| Photo: KTLA-TV |
| Image from the surveillance video |
A courier delivering medical marijuana to what he thought was a dispensary was mugged for $20,000 worth of cannabis by three men, according to police in Fullerton, California.
Police said the trio set up a fake medical marijuana dispensary in a commercial building in Fullerton, even painting a green cross on the outside wall of the building, reports Dennis Romero at LA Weekly.
“These suspects had spent some time putting this ruse together, putting the order in and finding a building that worked for what they were trying to do,” said Sgt. Andrew Goodrich of the Fullerton Police Department, reports Eileen Frere at ABC 7.
“Kind of like calling for Domino’s and then robbing the pizza driver,” Goodrich explained, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The unidentified courier was asked to deliver the marijuana to an office in the 1100 block of Elm Avenue, according to Fullerton Police, reports KTLA News.
When the pot courier arrived from Oakland, one of the suspects — who appears in the surveillance video to have been wearing a security guard’s uniform — let him in. Moments later, two other suspects approached the courier, one of them holding a pistol.
When the courier tried to resist, they pistol-whipped him and took about nine pounds of marijuana and the man’s cellphone. The other half of the marijuana being delivered got scattered across the ground in the struggle, reports Matt Coker at OC Weekly.
Police say the man retrieved the other half of his delivery.
The victim received minor injuries to his face. He was treated and released from the hospital.
The suspects appear to be one male African American and two male Hispanics in their early to mid 20s. Anyone with further information is asked to call Fullerton Police at (714) 738-6716.