Oakland cannabis business hit twice in back-to-back burglaries
OAKLAND, Calif. - An Oakland cannabis delivery service is the latest in the Bay Area's cannabis industry to be hit by a gang of thieves.
They struck Presto Canna in the city's Fruitvale neighborhood, not once, but twice this week in back-to-back burglaries.
They first struck early Monday morning, just after 3 a.m. The group of men was captured on surveillance cameras, prying open a gate door with crowbars, killing the power, and then prying open the front door of Lawrence Webb's delivery service building.
Alarms at the building went off, and neighbors called police, but Webb says by the time Oakland police arrived, the thieves were gone.
Police say they were responding to a priority one violent call at the time.
Webb says the masked thieves, some carrying guns, then made off with much of his cannabis product that morning.
Then on Tuesday, Webb says one of the suspects returned.
MORE: $10M cash, 500K marijuana plants seized in Bay Area's largest-ever bust
"Just in shock really that they had the audacity to come back again," said Presto Canna owner Lawrence Webb. "I assumed that just with the metal bar and the barrier that the police put up, no one was going to be coming in."
This time, the suspects spent nearly two hours coming and going from the building, cleaning out what was left of Webb’s remaining valuable product, equipment from his car detailing business, and even taking some of his paintings.
Between the stolen product, items, and damage, Webb estimates he's down around $50,000.
"It hurts because you know I put everything we had into buying this building, and applying for licensing, and it took nine months just to build this place out. It's hard watching it all just disappear in a matter of minutes," said Webb.
Webb says he's been forced to temporarily close his business, and is offering a $5,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.