Two men are dead after a crew of seven robbers dressed as cops forced their way into a Fresno, California family’s home Thursday in an effort to steal marijuana.
Details aren’t all that clear yet, but police say that the homeowners and robbers got into a shootout and at one point a 15-year-old girl was used as a human shield by robbers, who took the girl hostage for a short time before dumping her in downtown. Cops say that one man in the home was pistol-whipped by the robbers.
Thankfully, a neighbor behind the home apparently heard people screaming that they were police and saw the men kicking in the back door of the home. Things apparently didn’t look right, though, and the neighbor called the cops to be sure
As the cops showed up, the bandits jumped into two cars and sped off, one to Fresno with the hostage and another to a local hospital to drop off one of their gang who had been shot. Cops caught up with the car at the hospital and arrested two men, the injured man died of a gunshot wound. A second robber was also found near the home in bad shape and later died of his gunshots as well.
Police were able to follow the first car into Fresno, watching as they dumped guns along the way. The girl was left unharmed in downtown, but the three robbers in the car managed to get away.
All of this over some pot plants. About 150 of them, to be exact. Cops are looking into the legality of the grow, but were already quick to condemn the family that had undergone a pretty horrific ordeal.
Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said the robbery underscores the need to get marijuana growing out of her county and said the robbery was “directly related to drug trafficking and not medical marijuana.”
We say it demonstrates the need to legalize it, devalue it in the eyes of the black market and make it as common as tomatoes in our backyards.
