Tag Archives: marijuana

‘A second car has hit Uncle Ike’s’ — Capitol Hill pot shop struck in second smash and grab burglary targeting same store in three days

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Again! Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture and tip

A CHS reader reported an ominous incident Sunday morning — “A second car has hit Uncle Ike’s”

Only days after the store was targeted in a nearly identical smash and grab burglary early Friday morning, a group of brazen thieves struck the 15th Ave E Uncle Ike’s for a second time early Sunday, smashing a stolen Hyundai Elantra into the same corner of the store damaged Friday and entering the shop to steal cannabis products and gear from inside the compromised building. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill Uncle Ike’s hit in another Seattle smash and grab pot shop burglary

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Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture and the tip!

Just days after one Capitol Hill marijuana store reopened after three months and $300,000 of work to rebuild its storefront, another neighborhood pot shop was nailed in a smash and grab burglary early Friday morning.

Police were called to the 15th Ave E Uncle Ike’s just before 1:45 AM to the crash and reports of three to five suspects quickly loading merchandise into another vehicle. Arriving officers found a silver sedan smashed into the front of the Uncle Ike’s and tracked down a blue Chevy Impala with the suspects fleeing the scene.

Police followed the Impala onto Broadway but did not engage in a high speed pursuit as the vehicle sped northbound from Mercer, according to East Precinct radio updates. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill pot shop The Reef has reopened after smash and grab burglars totaled its storefront

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(Image: The Reef)

They missed 4/20 but Capitol Hill pot shop The Reef was back open in time to celebrate Memorial Day weekend.

The E Olive Way at Denny shop reopened this weekend after three months and $300,000 of work to rebuild and reinforce its 1926-era storefront. The protective sidewalk bollards are back in place. The business also continued to pay employees through the closure.

“When our Capitol Hill location was forced to close, our top priority was taking care of our team,” David Olivas, director of operations at The Reef, said in the announcement of the grand reopening. “We were able to keep our staff on payroll so no one lost income from hours, but their ability to earn tips was impacted.” Continue reading →

Gunman makes off with $3K cash in Capitol Hill pot shop hold-up

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Seattle Police and a K9 unit flooded the streets around the Ruckus Capitol Hill pot shop but could not track down the suspect in a Friday night armed robbery at the store.

According to SPD and East Precinct radio updates, the gunman walked into the E Republican at 15th pot shop just before midnight and demanded money. The suspect reportedly made off with around $3,000 in cash.

He was described as a black male in his 40s, wearing all black with a t-shirt or mask wrapped over his face, wearing black work boots, carrying a black or grey bag, and armed with a handgun. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill pot shop The Reef making plans to reopen but needs major repairs to its 99-year-old building after smash and grab

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(Image: CHS)

(Image: CHS)

Destruction from last week’s smash and grab break-in at Capitol Hill’s The Reef pot shop is bad enough that the street remains closed to cars near the badly damaged storefront three days later. But the store’s ownership is making plans to get back to selling cannabis.

“We’re planning a grand re-opening party,” David Olivas, director of operations for The Reef stores tells CHS after a weekend of securing inventory and trying to sort out what steps come next after the city issued an emergency order limiting access to the building following Friday morning’s break-in in which a group of thieves used a car to ram the storefront, partially ripping open the 99-year-old masonry building.

Police are looking for the suspects and two SUVs reported leaving the scene and likely involved with another smash and grab in SoDo only 30 minutes after Friday’s early morning heist attempt on Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

Another smash and grab burglary crash leaves Capitol Hill’s The Reef pot shop storefront crumbled

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(Image: CHS)

Capitol Hill pot shop The Reef was targeted again overnight in an early Friday morning smash and grab burglary as a team of thieves tried to use a car to crash open the shop’s front door, leaving behind a wrecked and heavily damaged storefront.

The attempted heist is the latest in an ongoing wave of similar ripoffs targeting Seattle’s cannabis industry and businesses with ATMs across the city and one of multiple break-ins in recent years targeting the E Olive Way at Denny store. Friday’s collision to the Capitol Hill store was the most damaging yet. Continue reading →

Thieves ram stolen minivan into Capitol Hill’s The Reef in another smash and grab pot shop break-in

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Thanks to Lauri for her picture and report in the CHS Facebook Group

A pack of thieves swarmed inside Capitol Hill pot shop The Reef early Tuesday morning after ramming a stolen minivan into the E Olive Way building in another smash and grab burglary targeting the store.

Seattle Police were called to the shop at the intersection of E Olive Way and Denny just before 2:30 AM to a report that a KIA minivan had smashed into the store and multiple males seen entering the business through the broken windows.

According to East Precinct radio updates, three vehicles — a van and two dark colored sedans — were reported fleeing the scene. Police arrived to find only the KIA smashed in reverse into the front of the building. A check of vehicle records show that the KIA was recently reported stolen. Continue reading →

Bollards, banking, and big water pipes for smoking marijuana or other drugs: Happy 10th 4/20, Seattle

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The Reef, pre-bollards (Image: CHS)

This July will mark a decade since the first recreational pot shops opened in Seattle so Saturday will brings the 10th “4/20” of legal cannabis in Washington.

Whoa.

If you are high enough to get lost in that math, enjoy. For the rest of you, the city’s cannabis retailers will surely be rolling out sales and promotions to help you celebrate.

Capitol Hill’s first pot shop didn’t debut until late in 2015 as tiny Ruckus “defiantly” opened just off 15th Ave E. Its tit for tat tussle with the larger Uncle Ike’s chain’s efforts on Capitol Hill is now the stuff of cannabis legend.

After 10 years Ruckus is still there and the Hill’s clusters of shops have grown to include two Ike’s locations and a new cluster of shops on E Olive Way including The Reef. Continue reading →

After 10 years of legal cannabis, Uncle Ike’s an early ‘social equity plan’ adopter in Seattle

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Uncle Ike’s Ian Eisenberg (Image: CHS)

With Seattle’s cannabis shops preparing for this week’s 4/20 celebrations as the state marks its 10th year of legal marijuana, one of the city’s leading retailers will be the first to take part in Washington’s new Cannabis Social Equity Program designed to increase participation in the industry “by those most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.”

State permitting shows that the original Uncle Ike’s at 23rd and Union will be the first cannabis business in Seattle to have its license fee refunded under the equity program.

According to a Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board spokesperson, Ike’s qualified for the program under a provision “that encourages all retail outlets to submit to the Board a ‘Social Equity Plan.'” Continue reading →

Liquor and Cannabis Board to start technical assistance and biz education for potential social equity retail marijuana shop owners

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Regulators at the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board have announced the start of the process that will open up new social equity retail marijuana licenses this year.

Classes and webinars to provide technical assistance and business education for potential social equity applicants will begin later this month, the LCB announced. You can sign up for the upcoming webinars here.

The board says the educational outreach comes as it will “soon be opening the application window for a limited number of retail cannabis licenses that have been reserved for social equity purposes.” Continue reading →