Four young people armed with guns broke into the Love Shack dispensary at 502 14th St. around closing time on Monday night, confirmed a representative of the dispensary.
But the police arrived, guns drawn, to Mission Cannabis Club instead, another dispensary a mile away. Someone had called 911 reporting armed robbers there — at the wrong store.
“We were open. Everybody was here, they were surprised,” said Rami Kassis, a co-owner of Mission Cannabis Club. “I don’t know if they didn’t know the address over there, or it was set up in a way that [police] show up here so they can distract them.”
Whether this was a mistake or a cunning decoy turned out to be a distinction without a difference: While Mission Station police officers were distracted, thieves holding up Love Shack made away with cash and inventory. At least one employee was present at the dispensary, and the robbers took their ID, according to a report from the SFPD.
Monday’s break-in is the latest in a series of robberies targeting cannabis retailers in San Francisco — and leaving their owners feeling helpless.
“Talk to anybody, whatever they’re selling, everybody’s so depressed,” said Al Shawa,