Two Pot Clubs Burglarized in Capitola and Soquel

Update 11:25 a.m.: A purchasing agent for Granny Purps spoke with Capitola-Soquel Patch Monday morning and described Friday's event. Four masked and gloved men broke through the side door, smashing it with a rock, said the employee, identified only as J.D. They were inside the business for 23 seconds.

"They got some display items and point-of-sale-type stuff," J.D. said. "Basically, they got our display jars, a few edibles, some grams, minimal stuff."

While the purchasing agent posited that the two Friday break-ins were related, he was less sure about their connection to the April firebombing.

"I don't know. The firebombing, I have no idea about that," he said. "It's a terrible thing that people would do something like that. It's kind of part of the business. Just like if you're a jewelry store, a pawn shop or a bank, there's risk of someone breaking in."

While Granny Purps certainly took a hit on Friday, J.D. said everything is business as usual just three days later.

"We're fully insured here with state-of-the-art cameras," he said. "We have surveillance and a lot of angles, and I'm fully confident that the sheriff's department will do their job to find these guys."  

Original Report: Burglars hit two 41st Avenue medicinal marijuana dispensaries Friday, stealing products worth tens of thousands of dollars, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office reported.

The break-ins happened at Herbal Cruz and at Granny Purps during the early-morning hours, according to the sheriff's office.

Burglars smashed the glass front door of , at 1001 41st Ave. in Capitola, around 4:30 a.m. Friday. Inside, they took packaged marijuana. Deputies didn't say how much the burglars got away with, but the crime was caught by the video surveillance system.

Down the street at , 2649 41st Ave. in Soquel, burglars stole about $10,000 worth of products.

Deputies have not said if the two burglaries are connected.

Mid-County medicinal marijuana dispensaries have had a tough go of it lately. With the weekend thefts, that makes three pot clubs the targets of serious crimes this spring.

In April, a Capitola marijuana dispensary was firebombed. early on April 30. The fire damaged furniture but was extinguished before any marijuana was affected.

At the time, the pot club owner speculated that the vandalism may have been an act of rivalry. A $10,000 reward was offered for information leading to the identification of the culprit. So far, no arrests have been made.

—This story will be updated.