Medical marijuana shops targeted

Owners of two medical marijuana businesses on U.S. 2 south of Highway 40 report a recent rash of attempted burglaries and vandalism.

C.E.G. owner Ryan Hansen has good quality video of two young people with their faces partially covered standing in front of his shop’s entrance about 4:45 a.m. on Aug. 19.

The taller of the two threw a large rock through the glass door, and the shorter one cleared away the glass with a two-by-four. An audible alarm apparently scared off the two would-be burglars after they got inside, and the alarm company contacted Hansen.

Hansen, however, was stuck on a boat out on Flathead Lake at the time after riding out a big storm. He said he also has video of the two people approaching the building from the rear and the front. Hansen said he spent $600 fixing C.E.G.’s front door using a stronger type of glass.

Apparently another medical marijuana business in Evergreen got hit the same night, and video there caught the same two individuals, Hansen said. The two managed to get inside the Evergreen business through the roof but were scared off by the alarm.

Two doors down from C.E.G. on the same night, the front door at Glacier View Glass Co. was smashed 11 times with a pipe or heavy object, but the glass held.

James Carr, who owns the medical marijuana dispensary and paraphernalia shop said it cost him $550 to fix the door. The two individuals were not only deterred by the alarm system but also by several very strong interior doors, Carr said.

Both Hansen and Carr said their little neighborhood has seen a rash of incidents over the past few weeks, from gas siphoning to vehicle windows being smashed out. Hansen said the upholstery shop next door was also targeted, but it seems evident that medical marijuana was the object of the two would-be burglars.

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incidents and asks that anyone with information about the break-ins call them at 758-5610.