Employees arrested after police called to robbery at Surrey pot shop
'Not very settling ... we call the police for help and we become the criminals,' says employee
A robbery at a Surrey marijuana dispensary Wednesday ended in two arrests — but it was the employees who were taken away in handcuffs, not the robber.
Someone had burst into the WeeMedical store near Scott Road and 88 Avenue with a can of mace and made off with a small amount of merchandise.
"I got a call that the store was robbed and I raced down," said Nicholas Thompson, who works at the shop. "Everything was fine. We called the police. They showed up. They were interested in everything."
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When Thompson found out everyone was okay, he left.
Then, he says, police called him.
"The police called me back to give a statement. As soon as I pulled up, they said I was under arrest for trafficking marijuana through the dispensary," he said.
'Not very settling'
Police raided the store, seizing all of the marijuana on site. Thompson says he spent much of Thursday cleaning up.
In addition to the criminal investigation, the city says the shop was selling a controlled substance, which is a bylaw violation. Unlike Vancouver, Surrey has no rules permitting any kind of marijuana sales.
WeeMedical is directing its clients to go to its other location, just down the road in North Delta, but the store has had its share of problems with bylaw officers in Delta as well.
"Delta got a court order to shut down WeeMedical, which I gather they'd been seeking to do for some time, and the store did indeed shut down but then re-opened," WeeMedical's lawyer Hovan Patey said.
"It's not very settling knowing that we call the police for help and we become the criminals," Thompson said.
"What if we get robbed again or word gets out to other dispensaries and they get robbed. Are they going to call the police? No."
Sgt. Alanna Dunlop with Surrey RCMP confirmed there was an active investigation into trafficking of a controlled substance as a result of the raid. She added anyone with additional information on the robbery is asked to call police.