As Redmond witnesses another strike, the Hashtag Cannabis shop at Leary Way and Cleveland Street reels from a repeated history of break-ins. In the early hours of Thursday, around 2:40 a.m., reports poured in after a car rammed through the storefront in what police are calling a 'smash-and-grab' burglary. The Redmond Police Department is on a manhunt for several hooded suspects who witnesses describe as making off with quite a haul of merchandise, according to FOX 13 Seattle.
The ongoing saga of burglaries at this location unfolds with surveillance footage capturing a chilling scene. A group, estimated between eight and nine, descended upon the Hashtag Cannabis shop, brandishing trash bags, just moments after an SUV shattered through the establishment's facade. This latest incident marks the fifth such occurrence within the past year, as reported by KING 5. The same locale was the target of a similar assault back on August 8, and before that, an attempted burglary in February, which was thwarted before the thieves could gain entry.
In the face of reoccurring violations of security, Logan Bowers, the owner of Hashtag Cannabis, expressed a weary resignation to an all-too-familiar routine of middle-of-the-night disruptions and subsequent cleanups. His exasperation is palatable as he laments the singular vulnerability of the Redmond outlet, noting that his Seattle and Everett locations have been spared this serial misfortune. "The reason it happens here is because we can't protect our building from cars without permission from the city and the city repeatedly refuses to give us that permission or let us protect ourselves," Bowers conveyed to KING 5. His efforts to install bollards—which would serve as a physical deterrent to vehicle-assisted break-ins—have run aground on municipal red tape.
The vehicle wielded as a battering ram in the latest burglary adds another layer to this criminal tale, as police have confirmed the SUV’s status as stolen. This methodology mirrors an incident that occurred just Wednesday morning, when a stolen Hyundai became the instrument of chaos for a different pot shop in Seattle's Fremont district, causing significant damage. These developments have been detailed by KOMO News, as authorities scramble to trace the origin of the stolen SUV and the identities of the band of thieves behind the masks.
