The victims in an early Friday morning street robbery near 23rd and Union told police they were held up by a group of three males armed with a pistol.
Police were called to the 2200 block of E Union around 12:40 AM Friday where the three suspects were last seen following the crime. According to one victim, one of the three black males involved in the hold-up was in his 30s and was armed with a pistol.
A K9 unit was called to the area and followed a track but the suspects were not immediately found.
Meanwhile, police are investigating an armed carjacking hours later at 23rd and Cherry.
Remind me why we didn’t expect this to be an inevitable consequence of making legal marijuana sales a cash-only business?
What does one have to do with the other? Maybe they had a few “legal” cocktails in them as well. Because as far as I know, the last thing weed does is make people want to mug anyone. Quit demonizing a plant you know nothing about.
I think you misunderstand. The implication is that a physical storefront selling expensive merchandise that can only accept cash can be seen as an attractive location for muggers to operate in.
Lol… Where have you been living? …and where do you live now? UNRELATED!
MC – This had nothing to do with Uncle Ike’s. By law, Ike’s has to close at midnight. Ike’s does not accept credit cards but does process cashless ATM transactions. Unlike illegal medical pot dispensaries, Ike’s has a real bank account and has armored car pickups. We have had zero robbery, mugging or other problems with crime. Hopefully we’ll accept credit cards soon. The north side of Union has cleaned up nicely, the south side by the Post Office is a different story……
Thanks for clarifying. I intended only to clarify what I believed was another commenter’s remark, though I do admit I have been concerned about that myself. I’ve never taken part in any transactions involving weed, but I’ve always assumed there’s some significant element of risk for all parties. Thank you again for putting my concerns to rest.
Gotcha sorry for the confusion. That’s one of the main points of legalizing weed. You take the criminal element out of it. No shady drug deals in the shadows that invite muggings and worse. No mass incarceration of poor kids for low level offenses. We invite people to check out our shops and have a look at what a professionally run pot shop looks like.
save your biased BS, Ike. “illegal” medical pot dispensaries?!
You know as well as most people that the FED is behind your inability to process standard debit and credit transactions because of their draconian regulations. Don’t be trying to feed a line of bull to the people in this area that medical dispensaries are illegal. I know people in the industry, I know what I’m talking about!
The only reason you’re trying to label medical dispensaries as “illegal” is because you believe they’re taking business away from you!
Huh??
All-cash purchases at pot stores (whether medical marijuana or the new legal businesses) are certainly a potential risk for muggings in the immediate area, but I am not aware of any such incidents directly linked to a customer of the stores. A criminal intent on robbery would have no way of knowing which people on the street are on their way to a pot shop (in order to target them for the cash in their pocket).
Ike labels the medical marijuana businesses as “illegal,” but this is not technically true….many do abuse the provisions of the legislation, though, such as selling to those without an authorization, not paying taxes, etc. Hopefully, soon, new regulations by the State Legislature will stop this abuse, but I think the best solution is to roll the medical marijuana dispensaries into the legal retail system.
All weed is federally illegal. Medical Dispensaries are illegal in Washington State. The Governor never signed it into law. It may be an affirmative defense but it is still illegal.
Ike, I don’t think your comment is accurate. Medical marijuana was legalized by a vote of the people something like 12 years ago, as I recall. It did not require the Governor’s signature. There is similar legislation in quite a few other states.
Yes, pot is still illegal at the federal level….but the feds have allowed medical marijuana dispensaries, and now retail stores, to operate with impunity…as you know, since you are the owner of one of the latter.
http://www.kplu.org/post/court-decision-says-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-are-illegal-washington-state
Ike,
I really appreciate that you take the time to post here. Whether or not people agree with you, it shows that you are willing to engage with the community.
Thanks Tom and thanks to this site for providing a fun forum from which we can go back and forth. Ever since I have started doing business in the area I have made a real effort to make myself totally accessible.
-Ian
Ah, 23rd and Union. Unkle Ike’s is the shining beacon of hope. This intersection has been doomed for ages.