Two suspects are in custody following an attempted armed robbery at a North Seattle dispensary late Sunday night, Komo News reports.
An off-duty Have a Heart employee witnessed the robbery-in-progress via the store’s security cameras and called 911 from home.
Two masked suspects, armed with handguns, entered the dispensary and tied up the employees, according to Seattle Police Detective Mark Jamieson. The duo was apprehended by authorities when they walked out of the front entrance carrying two large duffel bags.
The employees were uninjured in the incident and were able to free themselves before running out another door. They are cooperating with police in the ongoing investigation.
Dispensaries are often robbery targets because of the cash-only nature of the business, caused by the federal status of cannabis. According to a report by Merry Jane, more than six dispensaries in Colorado, California and Michigan were victims of robberies, or attempted robberies, in July alone.
According to a 2015 report by Bulbulyan, a business consulting firm that has since rebranded into SIVA Enterprises, robberies often cost dispensaries more than $250,000 in just property damage, legal fees and lost work time. The report estimates that dispensaries are 16 percent more likely to be robbed than banks and that cannabis-related businesses can expect to be robbed every two years.