SirBlazinBowl
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"If they want it bad enough, they'll find a way to get in and get it." Those words were offered Thursday by Lt. Dale Amaral, spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, whose agency is investigating yet another burglary of an area medical marijuana clinic. Investigators are looking into what has to be considered one of the more creative burglaries to date: Someone broke into the Hayward Fellowship Hall on Tuesday and then used a saw to cut a 16-by-32-inch hole in the wall to get into the adjacent Alameda County Resource Center, 16250 E. 14th St., in an unincorporated neighborhood near San Leandro.
The perpetrators, Amaral said, made off with 31/2pounds of marijuana that had been stored in plastic bins inside the cannabis club. They also took several thousand dollars in cash that the owner, Paul Bearwald, had left in the register. "Why anyone would leave that kind of money in the ( cash register ) is beyond me," said Amaral, whose agency is growing increasingly frustrated by the number of crimes that have taken place at area marijuana clinics. "These places are like candy stores," he continued. "Criminals are just attracted to these places. Even when they have sophisticated alarm systems, it doesn't matter. If there's a will, there is a way."
Amaral said the burglary was uncovered Tuesday morning when a member of the Hayward Fellowship Hall, which conducts Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, arrived and found the hole in the wall. It is not known how the burglars got inside the hall, Amaral said. It's the third reported incident at an area cannabis club this month. Last week, the Garden of Eden cannabis club, 21227 Foothill Blvd., in an unincorporated community near Hayward, was burglarized by two men. A security camera captured images of one man standing guard by the door while the other used a handgun to smash the glass display case where marijuana was stored. The two burglars also made off with a handgun that had been left inside the club, Amaral said.
On Sept. 2, a patron who had gone to the CCA Cannabis Club, 21222 Mission Blvd., in an unincorporated area, was accosted by five men on leaving the establishment. One of the men put a gun to the patron's head and forced him to give up the $250 of marijuana he had just purchased. These incidents occurred just weeks after DeMarco Lowrey, 18, was shot and killed Aug. 19 by the owner of A Natural Source marijuana club at 16360 Foothill Blvd., in an unincorporated neighborhood near San Leandro.
Jarrell McKneely, said by sheriff's investigators to be among the five to six men involved in the takeover robbery, was charged with murder as a result of Lowrey's death. What is starting to concern law enforcement officials is what Amaral called the "collateral damage" from the continued assaults on the clubs. "The neighbors in the area are suffering from the criminal elements that these establishments are attracting," Amaral said. That could end soon, however.
The board of supervisors is poised to impose tighter operating restrictions while also limiting the number of clubs that operate in unincorporated Alameda County to three. Three of the six owners of existing clubs have applied to continue operating. The sheriff's department is conducting background checks on the applicants to determine whether they should be permitted to continue operating. The other three clubs, meanwhile, were given until the end of the month to close their businesses.
Newshawk: SirBlazinBowl - 420Times.com
Source: Daily Review, The (Hayward, CA)
Copyright: 2005sANG Newspapers
Contact: revlet@angnewspapers.com
Website: https://www.dailyreviewonline.com/
Author: Ricci Graham
The perpetrators, Amaral said, made off with 31/2pounds of marijuana that had been stored in plastic bins inside the cannabis club. They also took several thousand dollars in cash that the owner, Paul Bearwald, had left in the register. "Why anyone would leave that kind of money in the ( cash register ) is beyond me," said Amaral, whose agency is growing increasingly frustrated by the number of crimes that have taken place at area marijuana clinics. "These places are like candy stores," he continued. "Criminals are just attracted to these places. Even when they have sophisticated alarm systems, it doesn't matter. If there's a will, there is a way."
Amaral said the burglary was uncovered Tuesday morning when a member of the Hayward Fellowship Hall, which conducts Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, arrived and found the hole in the wall. It is not known how the burglars got inside the hall, Amaral said. It's the third reported incident at an area cannabis club this month. Last week, the Garden of Eden cannabis club, 21227 Foothill Blvd., in an unincorporated community near Hayward, was burglarized by two men. A security camera captured images of one man standing guard by the door while the other used a handgun to smash the glass display case where marijuana was stored. The two burglars also made off with a handgun that had been left inside the club, Amaral said.
On Sept. 2, a patron who had gone to the CCA Cannabis Club, 21222 Mission Blvd., in an unincorporated area, was accosted by five men on leaving the establishment. One of the men put a gun to the patron's head and forced him to give up the $250 of marijuana he had just purchased. These incidents occurred just weeks after DeMarco Lowrey, 18, was shot and killed Aug. 19 by the owner of A Natural Source marijuana club at 16360 Foothill Blvd., in an unincorporated neighborhood near San Leandro.
Jarrell McKneely, said by sheriff's investigators to be among the five to six men involved in the takeover robbery, was charged with murder as a result of Lowrey's death. What is starting to concern law enforcement officials is what Amaral called the "collateral damage" from the continued assaults on the clubs. "The neighbors in the area are suffering from the criminal elements that these establishments are attracting," Amaral said. That could end soon, however.
The board of supervisors is poised to impose tighter operating restrictions while also limiting the number of clubs that operate in unincorporated Alameda County to three. Three of the six owners of existing clubs have applied to continue operating. The sheriff's department is conducting background checks on the applicants to determine whether they should be permitted to continue operating. The other three clubs, meanwhile, were given until the end of the month to close their businesses.
Newshawk: SirBlazinBowl - 420Times.com
Source: Daily Review, The (Hayward, CA)
Copyright: 2005sANG Newspapers
Contact: revlet@angnewspapers.com
Website: https://www.dailyreviewonline.com/
Author: Ricci Graham
