Vehicle drives into cannabis cultivation facility in what Sacramento police call a burglary
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A vehicle drove into a marijuana cultivation facility Thursday morning in what the Sacramento Police Department is calling a burglary.
Officers just before 3 a.m. went to the 1700 block of Kathleen Avenue between Del Paso Boulevard and Auburn Boulevard for a report of a vehicle into a building, police said. By the time officers arrived, the vehicle was already gone.
A giant hole in the facility’s wall was visible. Details were not released on any suspect descriptions and how many people are wanted in connection. It is also not known if anything was taken from the business.
A security company that works with this business says it’s seeing a noticeable increase in burglaries and attempted break-ins at licensed cannabis facilities across the region. “Unfortunately, this year has been quite a steep increase of crime. We’re responding to at least once or twice a night to a large group trying to break into a facility, and we’re just doing our best at that point,” said Andrew Haugen, a security professional.
Haugen described the incidents as becoming “more organized, more aggressive,” with larger groups targeting sites. “A lot more people [are] coming into the site at once. They’re using cars to ram down the front doors, the gates, [and] they’re having a lot of equipment on site,” he said.
Haugen, whose company has provided security for licensed cannabis businesses since legalization in Sacramento, said the rise in crime has forced many businesses to reevaluate their security strategies. “We started doing it when it first became legal. It’s kind of been a crazy ride. We’ve had a lot of success stories with what we’ve implemented in the city. Live video monitoring has done a lot of prevention of all the burglaries, but in the past year, the rise of crime has become unimaginable,” he said.
Terry Wilson, owner of Sattva Cannabis Company told KCRA his cultivation site has been targeted by attempted break-ins multiple times over the past five years.
“They’re not afraid at all. They’re afraid maybe of getting shot, but most farms like me, I don’t have armed guards there. We don’t want to. The last guy that shot somebody, I think he got arrested for manslaughter though. They’re emboldened,” Wilson said.
Wilson has invested in additional security measures to deter thieves. “We went above and beyond the pole fencing, a lot more cameras than are required. We’ve had full cameras everywhere. We reinforce our gates. We have security coming in at 5 p.m. until 5 a.m.,” he said.
When asked about the increase in security concerns or additional resources for licensed cannabis businesses, Sacramento city officials referred to the city’s existing security requirements.
Workers at another cannabis cultivation business nearby said someone also attempted to break into their building overnight. Sacramento police did not confirm whether that incident was connected to the reported burglary.
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