A Lake Forest Park pot shop has been hit twice in just over a week by burglars using stolen Kias in daring early morning heists. The latest break-in at The Kushery Cannabis Dispensary, located at 19258 15th Avenue NE, happened around 5 a.m. on January 11, KOMO News reported.
Lake Forest Park Police Department officers arrived on the scene to find a smashed storefront, having received reports of the crash along with the presence of associated vehicles allegedly involved in the burglary. Attempting to escape, the suspects hit an unrelated vehicle, bearly missing the officers and fleeing the scene, with the driver of the set-up car managing to elude capture after a collision at the intersection of 19th Avenue Northeast and Ballinger Way Northeast, KIRO 7 reported. The car was later identified as a stolen Kia from nearby Shoreline.
The pursuit resulted in one arrest at the dispensary, and the store suffered another round of lost merchandise, though the exact amount remains unspecified. This string of burglaries is pushing local shop owners to their limits, with shop operator Young Kim lamenting to KOMO News, "They break it, and they come in, and they take all of the smokes and money, and we lose a lot of money."
Sgt. Morris Parrish of the Lake Forest Park police, noting a troubling trend, told KIRO 7, "The presumption, unfortunately, in these cases is that if there is a Kia or Hyundai involved, more likely than not it’s going to be a stolen vehicle." The aftermath of the crash left one civilian, unfortunately caught in the chaos, injured, and their condition is not currently known.
Multiple police departments collaborated in the response to this incident, including teams from Bothell, Shoreline, and Kenmore, along with the King County Sheriff's Office, as per Lake Forest Park authorities. A Redmond police K-9 unit was also dispatched in the failed search for additional suspects. The investigation into this rash of burglaries continues, as police work to determine any link between the incidents and to identify further individuals involved.
