Teens accused of burglarizing pot shop

Three 14-year-old kids were arrested for allegedly breaking into an Oak Harbor marijuana dispensary.

By Jessie Stensland • August 19, 2022 1:30 am
Oak Harbor Police released this image of juvenile burglars at the Green Room. The police are trying to identify the suspect in the white sweatshirt who fled the scene. Oak Harbor Police released this image of juvenile burglars at the Green Room. The police are trying to identify the suspect in the white sweatshirt who fled the scene.
Oak Harbor Police released this image of juvenile burglars at the Green Room. The police are trying to identify the suspect in the white sweatshirt who fled the scene. Oak Harbor Police released this image of juvenile burglars at the Green Room. The police are trying to identify the suspect in the white sweatshirt who fled the scene.

Three 14-year-old kids were arrested early in the morning of Aug. 16 for allegedly breaking into the Green Room, an Oak Harbor marijuana dispensary on Goldie Street, according to court records.

A fourth suspect ran away at the scene and police are seeking to identify him or her.

An Oak Harbor police officer responded to a commercial alarm at the pot shop at about 2:30 a.m. The officer discovered that a glass panel on the front of the building was shattered and she heard noises inside. After she called for back up, four people wearing face masks and carrying backpacks ran out of the broken glass window, according to the officer’s report on the incident.

The officer commanded the intruders to get on the ground. The first intruder out the window was carrying glass items from the shop and took off running, smashing the stolen goods on the parking lot. Two other officers apprehended them on Goldie Street.

The other suspects, a boy and a girl, complied with the commands and got on the ground. The fourth subject ran away and wasn’t apprehended.

The officers realized that the suspects were children when they took off the masks. Investigators found marijuana and marijuana-related products inside of two backpacks the suspects were carrying, according to a press release from the police.

A search of one of the juveniles revealed property from the Oak Harbor Country Club, leading to the discovery of another commercial burglary believed to have been committed that night, the police reported.

The press release stated that a state law that requires juveniles in custody to have access to an attorney before being questioned by police prevented the suspects from speaking with police, even though one of them wanted to. The defense attorney told the juveniles not to speak with the police, so officers weren’t able to ask them information about the other burglary or the fourth suspect.

Anyone with any information regarding this incident, including information on the remaining suspect, should call ICOM dispatch at 360-679-9567 and ask to speak to an officer.

Prosecutors charged the three juveniles in Island County Juvenile Court Aug. 17 with burglary in the second degree, theft in the first degree and malicious mischief in the first degree.

The girl and one of the boys were also charged this week with malicious mischief in the second degree for throwing eggs at a house on June 27. The cost for cleaning, priming and painting the spots where the eggs hit was estimated at $1,300.