It has been over a week since the 3-man armed robbery incident at Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop in Lake City, Washington. The perpetrators still remain unknown.
This comes just two hours after a dispensary robbery in Spanaway. The Thursday before Thanksgiving around 11:30PM was a fast whirlwind of an unfortunate event at Uncle Ike’s dispensary.
What Happened During the Armed Robbery at Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop?
Based on the surveillance footage caught during the robbery, the three suspects were shown working quickly, in tandem, and in a very prepared fashion. It seemed like they knew exactly what they were going to do once they entered the dispensary.
The surveillance video shows one robber jumping over the glass display case and pursuing a budtender. The goal was a success as the suspect entered a secure area behind the counter and pointed their gun at an employee. Then, the robber forced the budtender to open a safe in a different room.
The two other suspects partook in controlling the shop floor. A budtender pleads with the robbers to not harm a customer as one of them brutally hits the customer in the head as he tried to escape the shop during the incident. Not only did they assault a customer and steal money from the safe, but the third person of interest also started to shove cannabis products from shelves into a bag.
Image via @uncleikessea on Instagram
Reward to Catch Criminals
Luckily, no employees or customers were severely hurt during the robbery, but the suspects did get away with a combined $7,000 of cash and product. What was odd was that the robbers mainly focused on stealing cash versus cannabis products, which seems to be the typical goal of any person willing to rob a dispensary.
Not only was it shocking to have such a violent and aggressive attack that could have ended up way worse if anybody tried to stop these criminals, but it happened so quickly. According to the head of Uncle Ike’s security, Chad Alabe, “this is probably the worst [robbery] that I’ve seen in all my years. They came in hot. They came in fast.” Alabe expressed his concern with the level of priority this type of robbery has when comparing it to a bank robbery. Alabe says that, “we just want to be protected.”
This has been a part of a chain of unfortunate events for Uncle Ike’s in Lake City, WA. First, this happens shortly after facing COVID obstacles. And additionally, a disgruntled employee hammered away over $130k worth of damages at two Uncle Ike’s locations.
The owner isn’t taking this without a fight, though. He initially had a $1,000 reward for anybody who can help catch these criminals, but the owner now has upped the ante of the reward to a total of $6,000.
If you have any information and would like to get up to $6,000 in reward money while remaining anonymous, then shoot a tip to the Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound. You can do so through the P3 Tips App, calling 1-800-222-TIPS, or going to their website at www.P3Tips.com.
