MOUNTLAKE TERRACE, Wash. — A cannabis shop in Mountlake Terrace is the latest to be hit by the "crash-and-grab" trend where suspects drive a car into a business in order to force entry and burglarize it.
Rainier Cannabis on 64th Avenue West reported a commercial burglary just before 3:30 a.m., with the all-too-familiar details of suspects backing a vehicle into the business. Multiple suspects then entered and stole products before fleeing the scene in two other vehicles.
The front door and a portion of the building's wall were destroyed, police said. The vehicle used to crash into the business was left at the scene, and appeared to be a red Hyundai sedan. Police did not confirm that the vehicle used to hit the business was stolen, but many of these crash-and-grab crimes tend to involve either a stolen KIA or Hyundai due to the ease with which they can be stolen.
The store had placed concrete blocks in front of the business, but curiously, the blocks were removed by the property owner on Thursday, police said. The suspects were not identified or located, but police said they fled using multiple vehicles.
KING 5 has covered pot shop break-ins on an almost daily basis of late, many of which consist of a standard process: suspects steal a vehicle and smash it into a business, run in and grab as much product as they can and flee the scene in a different vehicle all within minutes.
Just last week, a marijuana processing facility was hit despite having concrete bollards outside. Not only did the suspects squeeze in between the bollards to penetrate the wall, but they burglarized the business on the one day of the week where the owner must leave his front gate open to allow for trash to be collected from its dumpsters.
Lawmakers tried to pass legislation that would increase the penalties for these types of crimes, but it did not come to fruition.
"I'm pretty frustrated. We had several initiatives underway for this session of the legislature, but none of them really succeeded," said Sen. Karen Keiser, (D-33rd).
Keiser co-sponsored Senate Bill 6133 which was sponsored by Sen. Jim McCune. The bill would have added an extra year of jail time for someone convicted of robbing a pot shop in a smash-and-grab. It would also require those businesses to report robberies or attempted robberies to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board.
The board can't track how often robberies or attempted robberies are happening because reporting isn't required.
The bill passed the Senate unanimously, but failed in the House.
"There is a resistance to increasing penalties for property crimes when no one is injured or assaulted. And that continues to be an issue that we have to deal with," said Keiser.
Efforts to tackle the problem made their way to Capitol Hill. Last month U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell announced she's cosponsoring the "Safer Banking Act" which would give marijuana, hemp, and cannabidiol (CBD) businesses access to banking and financial services.
Sen. Cantwell said that last year, there were more than 50 robbery attempts at marijuana dispensaries in Washington.
"This bill will take the target off the backs of our state’s dispensaries by updating federal banking laws so they don’t have to do all their business in cash," Cantwell's statement said in part. The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board said it does support legislative measures like "safe banking."