Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
SEATTLE - A juvenile and four young men have been charged in connection to the Monday attempted home-invasion robbery of a medical marijuana advocate.
Investigators say the five suspects -- Jonathan Michael Buell, Tyson B. Corcoran, Andrew JJ Carrigan, Dakota Laughren and Hristo V. Tzenkov -- were trying to rob the advocate, Steve Sarich, for drugs.
Sarich is licensed under the state's medical marijuana statute to have a 60-day supply, but Sheriff's deputies allege he had much more in his home roughly 12 miles from downtown Seattle.
Each suspect is facing counts of first-degree burglary and first-degree attempted robbery.
One of the men was allegedly armed with a shotgun and fired at Sarich, leaving him with non-life-threatening injuries. Deputies say Tzenkov was hit multiple times rushed to Harborview Medical Center after Sarich returned fire. He's been discharged from Harborview, a nursing supervisor said Wednesday night, and is expected to survive.
While deputies were investigating the shooting and attempted burglary, they found more than 300 marijuana plants and marijuana-laced food in the home, King County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said.
Sarich, who has praised King County Sheriff's deputies investigating the shooting, has been outspoken in complaints about the drug investigation, saying he'll sue the county for violating his rights.
He has not been arrested, but deputies say they plan to forward the results of their investigation to prosecutors.
Urquhart said investigators left what Sarich is legally allowed to have: a 60-day supply, defined by the Department of Health as 24 ounces of usable marijuana and no more than 15 plants at any stage of growth.
Attempted home invasion
Police said Buell, 18, was a customer of Sarich through his organization, CannaCare, which provides people with "services they need to obtain legal access to medical marijuana," according to its Web site.
Like Buell, Corcoran had obtained a medical marijuana card through CannaCare, and the 19-year-old had worked as a parking attendant for Sarich, according to court documents.
Carrigan, a 19-year-old who had been squatting at the bank-foreclosed home of Corcoran's mother, also had worked for Sarich, according to investigators.
Tzenkov, 19, was Buell's roommate and Laughren, a 17-year-old being charged as an adult, is an associate.
About 4:45 a.m. Monday, a 911 dispatcher received a call from a screaming woman in the 11400 block of Juanita Way Northeast, saying someone had a shotgun and that her husband was possibly shot. The line then disconnected.
When dispatchers reestablished contact 3 minutes later, the woman said her boyfriend -- Sarich -- was shot in the arm, and she though the suspect were still in the house. She reported someone yelling, "Help."
About 5 a.m., dispatchers reported receiving a call from Tzenkov. He allegedly told a dispatcher he was shot in the back, the leg and above the waist while cutting through a yard.
After SWAT cleared the home, Sarich told investigators he woke to his dogs barking and two masked men confronted him near his bedroom door. One allegedly raised a shotgun at him. Sarich fired a single round from .22 caliber pistol before it jammed.
He armed himself with another .22 caliber pistol and fired several more rounds, according to court documents. The suspect with the shotgun had his face covered with a red bandanna. Both Sarich and his girlfriend allowed deputies to search their residence, court documents show.
Buell was found about 8:10 a.m. nearby on Holmes Point Road. Investigators say he admitted to being involved in the attempted robbery, and claimed it was Laughren who was armed with a stolen shotgun.
Buell allegedly said he and three others had been sitting around his apartment smoking marijuana before trying to rob Sarich, who he told allegedly police "always had large piles of marijuana and cash lying around the house." He said Laughren and another man had hit "hit the house before taking pounds of marijuana" and pot-laced food, according to court documents.
Laughren allegedly told police he did not have a gun during the incident because he's a convicted felon. The 17-year-old has prior convictions for third-degree assault, marijuana, malicious mischief and fourth-degree assault, court documents show.
Carrigan, who was arrested near a home after a tip from one of his alleged accomplices, had worked for Sarich, according to court documents.
"About a year ago we took him in and gave him a place to stay," Sarich told seattlepi.com Tuesday. "That didn't work out very well. We don't allow people to use other drugs here."
Sarich said he hadn't heard from the man in about a year, was not aware he was in the area and was surprised to hear from deputies the man's identity.
Drug investigation
During a Monday search, sheriff's deputies reported finding more than 300 plants and confiscated evidence of a pot-growing operation that will be turned over to prosecutors.
After obtaining a search warrant Monday for the marijuana investigation, deputies took plants and other drug-related paraphernalia, including green butter and green chocolate, according to investigators.
"We think the green butter was a tip of the hat to St. Patrick's Day -- but still it was laced with marijuana," Urquhart said Tuesday.
Sarich claimed that day deputies violated his rights.
"We're going to sue them and we're going to make it very public," he said. Sarich told reporters that holes were cut in his walls, clothes and papers strewn about and computers taken.
"The cops that investigated the shooting were some of the most professional cops I've met in my life," Sarich said. "Then the drug cops came in and they were sleezeballs."
Urquhart said the actions were not part of a raid.
"We developed probable cause and wrote up a search warrant, and what we found was over and above the legal limit," he said.
Washington voters approved the use of marijuana for certain medical conditions through a citizens initiative in 1998. The law allowed patients a 60-day supply, but it wasn't until 2008 that the state defined that 60-day amount as 24 ounces of usable pot and 15 plants.
Sarich is licensed to grow medical marijuana. Urquhart said deputies "left him the statutory amount of marijuana as well as plants, and took anything in excess that appeared to be illegal."
"Clearly we don't have an issue with medical marijuana," Urquhart said. "The citizens of Washington State have decided that medical marijuana is appropriate.
"However, (the Legislature has) given us a statute that's difficult to understand and difficult to enforce, and that needs to be fixed."
Previous CannaCare raid
Long a thorn in the side of law enforcement for his vocal, thumb-in-the-eye advocacy, Sarich has insisted that the government is harassing medical marijuana users -- himself included -- who legitimately use the drug to manage pain associated with multiple sclerosis, cancer and other illnesses.
In January 2007, drug enforcement agents raided Sarich's Everett home, headquarters of CannaCare. Police documents said more than 1,000 plants were confiscated, as well as computers that Sarich said contained personal information of about 200 men and women authorized to use the drug for medicinal purposes.
Detective Roy Alloway of the West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team claimed at the time the amount of marijuana was excessive for medical use.
At the time, Sarich called the raid on his home an attack on the people who support medical marijuana. No charges were filed against Sarich following the raid.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: seattlepi.com
Author: Casey McNerthney
Copyright: 2010 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC
Contact: seattlepi.com / Hearst Seattle Media Staff Directory
Website: Suspects charged in attempted robbery of medical pot advocate
• Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
Investigators say the five suspects -- Jonathan Michael Buell, Tyson B. Corcoran, Andrew JJ Carrigan, Dakota Laughren and Hristo V. Tzenkov -- were trying to rob the advocate, Steve Sarich, for drugs.
Sarich is licensed under the state's medical marijuana statute to have a 60-day supply, but Sheriff's deputies allege he had much more in his home roughly 12 miles from downtown Seattle.
Each suspect is facing counts of first-degree burglary and first-degree attempted robbery.
One of the men was allegedly armed with a shotgun and fired at Sarich, leaving him with non-life-threatening injuries. Deputies say Tzenkov was hit multiple times rushed to Harborview Medical Center after Sarich returned fire. He's been discharged from Harborview, a nursing supervisor said Wednesday night, and is expected to survive.
While deputies were investigating the shooting and attempted burglary, they found more than 300 marijuana plants and marijuana-laced food in the home, King County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said.
Sarich, who has praised King County Sheriff's deputies investigating the shooting, has been outspoken in complaints about the drug investigation, saying he'll sue the county for violating his rights.
He has not been arrested, but deputies say they plan to forward the results of their investigation to prosecutors.
Urquhart said investigators left what Sarich is legally allowed to have: a 60-day supply, defined by the Department of Health as 24 ounces of usable marijuana and no more than 15 plants at any stage of growth.
Attempted home invasion
Police said Buell, 18, was a customer of Sarich through his organization, CannaCare, which provides people with "services they need to obtain legal access to medical marijuana," according to its Web site.
Like Buell, Corcoran had obtained a medical marijuana card through CannaCare, and the 19-year-old had worked as a parking attendant for Sarich, according to court documents.
Carrigan, a 19-year-old who had been squatting at the bank-foreclosed home of Corcoran's mother, also had worked for Sarich, according to investigators.
Tzenkov, 19, was Buell's roommate and Laughren, a 17-year-old being charged as an adult, is an associate.
About 4:45 a.m. Monday, a 911 dispatcher received a call from a screaming woman in the 11400 block of Juanita Way Northeast, saying someone had a shotgun and that her husband was possibly shot. The line then disconnected.
When dispatchers reestablished contact 3 minutes later, the woman said her boyfriend -- Sarich -- was shot in the arm, and she though the suspect were still in the house. She reported someone yelling, "Help."
About 5 a.m., dispatchers reported receiving a call from Tzenkov. He allegedly told a dispatcher he was shot in the back, the leg and above the waist while cutting through a yard.
After SWAT cleared the home, Sarich told investigators he woke to his dogs barking and two masked men confronted him near his bedroom door. One allegedly raised a shotgun at him. Sarich fired a single round from .22 caliber pistol before it jammed.
He armed himself with another .22 caliber pistol and fired several more rounds, according to court documents. The suspect with the shotgun had his face covered with a red bandanna. Both Sarich and his girlfriend allowed deputies to search their residence, court documents show.
Buell was found about 8:10 a.m. nearby on Holmes Point Road. Investigators say he admitted to being involved in the attempted robbery, and claimed it was Laughren who was armed with a stolen shotgun.
Buell allegedly said he and three others had been sitting around his apartment smoking marijuana before trying to rob Sarich, who he told allegedly police "always had large piles of marijuana and cash lying around the house." He said Laughren and another man had hit "hit the house before taking pounds of marijuana" and pot-laced food, according to court documents.
Laughren allegedly told police he did not have a gun during the incident because he's a convicted felon. The 17-year-old has prior convictions for third-degree assault, marijuana, malicious mischief and fourth-degree assault, court documents show.
Carrigan, who was arrested near a home after a tip from one of his alleged accomplices, had worked for Sarich, according to court documents.
"About a year ago we took him in and gave him a place to stay," Sarich told seattlepi.com Tuesday. "That didn't work out very well. We don't allow people to use other drugs here."
Sarich said he hadn't heard from the man in about a year, was not aware he was in the area and was surprised to hear from deputies the man's identity.
Drug investigation
During a Monday search, sheriff's deputies reported finding more than 300 plants and confiscated evidence of a pot-growing operation that will be turned over to prosecutors.
After obtaining a search warrant Monday for the marijuana investigation, deputies took plants and other drug-related paraphernalia, including green butter and green chocolate, according to investigators.
"We think the green butter was a tip of the hat to St. Patrick's Day -- but still it was laced with marijuana," Urquhart said Tuesday.
Sarich claimed that day deputies violated his rights.
"We're going to sue them and we're going to make it very public," he said. Sarich told reporters that holes were cut in his walls, clothes and papers strewn about and computers taken.
"The cops that investigated the shooting were some of the most professional cops I've met in my life," Sarich said. "Then the drug cops came in and they were sleezeballs."
Urquhart said the actions were not part of a raid.
"We developed probable cause and wrote up a search warrant, and what we found was over and above the legal limit," he said.
Washington voters approved the use of marijuana for certain medical conditions through a citizens initiative in 1998. The law allowed patients a 60-day supply, but it wasn't until 2008 that the state defined that 60-day amount as 24 ounces of usable pot and 15 plants.
Sarich is licensed to grow medical marijuana. Urquhart said deputies "left him the statutory amount of marijuana as well as plants, and took anything in excess that appeared to be illegal."
"Clearly we don't have an issue with medical marijuana," Urquhart said. "The citizens of Washington State have decided that medical marijuana is appropriate.
"However, (the Legislature has) given us a statute that's difficult to understand and difficult to enforce, and that needs to be fixed."
Previous CannaCare raid
Long a thorn in the side of law enforcement for his vocal, thumb-in-the-eye advocacy, Sarich has insisted that the government is harassing medical marijuana users -- himself included -- who legitimately use the drug to manage pain associated with multiple sclerosis, cancer and other illnesses.
In January 2007, drug enforcement agents raided Sarich's Everett home, headquarters of CannaCare. Police documents said more than 1,000 plants were confiscated, as well as computers that Sarich said contained personal information of about 200 men and women authorized to use the drug for medicinal purposes.
Detective Roy Alloway of the West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team claimed at the time the amount of marijuana was excessive for medical use.
At the time, Sarich called the raid on his home an attack on the people who support medical marijuana. No charges were filed against Sarich following the raid.
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: seattlepi.com
Author: Casey McNerthney
Copyright: 2010 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC
Contact: seattlepi.com / Hearst Seattle Media Staff Directory
Website: Suspects charged in attempted robbery of medical pot advocate
• Thanks to MedicalNeed for submitting this article
