The Free Thought Project Free Your Thought
Santa Ana, CA — In June of last year, police raided a marijuana dispensary and were caught on a surveillance camera stealing the merchandise and breaking things. Police entered the “Sky High” dispensary in riot gear with guns drawn and were extremely disrespectful to the owners of the property as well as the guests, some of whom were disabled.
One of the occupants was a partially blind paraplegic, and the officers were making jokes about her disability. They even suggested to one another that they should have assaulted her.
“Did you punch that one-legged old Benita,” a male officer asks a female officer.
“I was about to kick her in her f—ing nub,” the female officer replies after the police were in the building alone.
The cameras captured the officers making profane jokes to one another while they played darts and testing out the merchandise in the store. In one part of the video, an officer can be seen taking a big bite out of what appears to be a marijuana edible, before he shakes his head in satisfaction and gives the other officers a “thumbs up.”
In the video released by the dispensary, cops, in an effort to conceal their acts were seen destroying all the cameras they could see before stealing property and insulting people with disabilities. However, there was one camera that remained hidden and intact, and only because of this camera was the investigation even launched.
After this video was released, it went super viral and exposed these abusive and corrupt officers for the criminals they are.
For nearly a year, the officers have fought to get out of any charges, claiming that the cameras inside the store were “illegal,” and, therefore, not admissible.
The District Attorney appears to be on their side too, as they quickly maintained that the snack items eaten inside the pot shop did not contain marijuana — in spite of the shop owners showing that the cookies were “edibles.”
Attorney for #SkyHigh on charges against #SantaAna PD officers: "It's a start, but I stand by my allegation that they ate edibles."
— Greg Lee (@abc7greg) March 14, 2016
“Because some were consuming regular food products does not mean they were not consuming edibles,” said attorney Matthew Pappas.
Despite their best efforts to fight all their charges, it was announced on Monday that three of the officers will be charged — all misdemeanors, of course.
For stealing and eating the cookies and protein bars from the shop, all the officers were charged with petty theft. The officer who smashed all of the surveillance cameras in the store was also charged with vandalism.
If convicted of petty theft, according to ABC7, officers Jorge Arroyo, 32 and Nicole Lynn Quijas, 37, face a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Officer Brandon Matthew Sontag, 31, faces up to 18 months in jail and a $2,000 fine for petty theft and the additional misdemeanor vandalism count for smashing the cameras.
The officers are scheduled for arraignment on April 11.
Watch the video below and you decide who the criminals are in this scenario. Are the criminals the peaceful people attempting to purchase a plant to help with their ailments — or, were they the armed gang members who assaulted those people with assault rifles, smashed up private property, stole property, and attempted to destroy the evidence of their unscrupulous behavior?
