Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Cops Could Face Jail Time for Stealing Non-Pot Cookies At Dispensary
Three police officers who last year raided a pot shop and indulged in some on-duty, on-camera snacking on treats of yet unknown provenance have been charged with theft, the Orange County District Attorney announced Monday.
According to the DA statement, Santa Ana Police officers Brandon Matthew Sontag, 31, Nicole Lynn Quijas, 37, and Jorge Arroyo, 32, were charged with one misdemeanor count of petty theft for eating and stealing protein bars and cookies from the Sky High Holistic marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana during a May 26, 2015 raid on the shop. To be precise, they were allegedly Detour Simple protein bars and Mrs. Thinsters cookies.
Sontag was charged with an additional misdemeanor count of vandalism under $400 for smashing five surveillance cameras.
However, prosecutors maintained there was "no evidence that any SAPD personnel consumed any edible marijuana items available at the dispensary," nor that they knew "the food items belonged to the dispensary and not their fellow officers," because cops just carry around cookies along with their battering rams, apparently.
Video of the raid was captured on four hidden cameras that were not disabled. It shows several officers with guns drawn enter the dispensary after the one with battering ram (and ladyfingers, maybe) slams the front doors from the outside. They brusquely yell at the dispensary patrons to get on the ground, a marked difference from when an officer is later heard commenting on how good some chocolate bars he found in a locked safe looked. Others partake in the booty, one says he feels light-headed, and then then play darts. I believe they call that "synergy."
Support for LAist comes from
Quijas can be heard saying at one point, "I wanted to kick her in her f*****g nub," possibly referring to dispensary employee Marla James, a wheelchair-bound amputee escorted out by Quijas.
If convicted, Arroyo and Quijas face a maximum jail sentence of six months and a $1,000 fine; Sontag faces 18 months in jail and a $2,000 fine.
Imagining the prospect of a cop's life in jail is a cliché, but it's difficult to say whether it would be easier or more difficult to do hard time for stealing health-conscious cookies under the color of law when you were just feeling a tad peckish.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist