Pot bandits nabbed

Three men have been arrested so far. Investigators also looking into the medical marijuana dispensary they tried to rob.


By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ and LOIS EVEZICH
The Orange County Register



LAGUNA NIGUEL – Armed men searching for marijuana and cash at an office building Wednesday instead found themselves confronted by employees ready to protect their pot.

One of the office workers, instead, tackled a gun-wielding robber and wrestled his gun away.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department arrested three men in the botched heist and are now wondering how a medical marijuana dispensary has been operating unnoticed.

Three people have been arrested in connection to the robbery, and investigators have launched a parallel investigation into the legitimacy of the medical marijuana dispensary that was operating quietly at an industrial cul-de-sac in an unmarked suite, said Sgt. Andy Ferguson of the sheriff's department.

One man walked into the 27665 Forbes Road office and at least three more tried to force their way inside the locked door at about 3:30 p.m. Two of them were armed with semi-automatic weapons, Ferguson said. Two shots were fired inside during the struggle but no one was wounded.

"The best we can tell the people were there to steal the marijuana," Ferguson said.

But without prior knowledge that the plain office suite was selling marijuana, visitors to the area would have no clue of what was sold inside, Ferguson said. Potential customers had to be buzzed in from employees inside.

The business was called Gifts From God Ministries, though city officials said they didn't know a medical marijuana facility leased the space, said Tim Casey, city manager for Laguna Niguel. The city received periodic inquiries over the years about applications and permits but applicants were told the city's code prohibits such establishments.

According to city records, the space was registered by John Lana, who lists a San Clemente address. But in an Occupancy Information Form, the business description was left blank.

At about the same time Lana filed an occupancy form with the city, employees of neighboring businesses said they began to see teenagers showing up to the area and going into the dispensary.

Calls to Lana's phone number listed in city records were not returned.

A representative of Transtar Inc., the managing company of the building, said the company had no comment on the incident or Gifts From God Ministries.

Investigators with the sheriff's department are continuing the simultaneous investigations and are looking for another two suspects believed to be involved in the robbery, Ferguson said. No arrests have been made in connection with the investigation of the facility.

Arsenio Lamont Collins, 18, Miles Kroy York, 19, and Michael Jeffrey Munroe, 20, have been taken into custody on suspicion of attempted homicide, robbery, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Authorities are looking for at least two additional suspects believed to have been involved.

"We don't have the whole story," Ferguson said.

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361


http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-marijuana-ferguson-2146513-inside-robbery