LIVE OAK — Law enforcement authorities announced details Thursday of a sprawling cannabis dispensary retail theft crime ring bust, a case they said spanned nine counties over nine months.
Santa Cruz County Undersheriff Chris Clark speaks about the interagency cooperation involved in Operation Sticky Fingers as California Attorney General Rob Bonta listens. (Shmuel Thaler — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
“Just to be clear, we are not talking about shoplifting a couple of packs of THC gummies,” State Attorney General Rob Bonta said during a press conference held at the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. “Far from it. We’re talking about coordinated schemes, organized efforts that hurt our businesses and pose a threat to our communities. And that organized criminal schemes deserve and require an organized response on the part of law enforcement. And that’s what we have demonstrated here.”
In an effort dubbed “Operation Sticky Fingers,” Bonta said 22 men were arrested last month in connection with 15 break-ins. A large portion took place in Santa Cruz County, he said, meaning the local superior court is set to handle the legal proceedings. Last week, 14 of the co-defendants pleaded not guilty to charges before Judge Nancy de la Peña.
“Instead of bringing multiple cases in multiple counties, we centralized it here in Santa Cruz County,” Bonta said, praising the collaborative work of multiple law enforcement agencies and partners.
The 15 break-ins charged in the case largely took place after hours at cannabis dispensaries, said Bonta. He estimated the value of the stolen products, which consisted of about 1,000 pounds of marijuana plants and other cannabis retail items, at more than $1 million. Stolen items were not sold in bulk to a single distributor, but rather sold individually, either through in-person details or via online social media transactions, according to police investigations, Bonta said.
Santa Cruz County establishments named in criminal filings include Highway One Distribution in Santa Cruz, Catalyst Cannabis in Watsonville, Jade Coast in Watsonville, Strong Agronomy in Watsonville, 3 Bros Dispensary in Soquel and The Hook in Watsonville. Bonta, asked if investigations remained ongoing into additional known cannabis facility break-ins, said he believed the core of the case had been uncovered but that new charges may be added as investigations continue. Left off the list was November’s break-in at Santa Cruz’s Decibel Gardens cannabis cultivation, manufacturing and distribution center that led to an alleged shootout between the owner and assailants. Shop owner Derek Hubbard awaits a preliminary hearing next month in the case on charges of felony shooting at an inhabited dwelling, four counts of assault with a semiautomatic rifle and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
While the charged retail thefts took place outside of Alameda County, the Oakland Police Department played a significant role in breaking the case, authorities said Thursday. The agencies’ Bureau of Investigations deputy chief, Frederick Shavies, opened its investigation into the large-scale thefts in February for crimes he said spanned mid-2023 through July.
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“(We) utilized technology, both at the Oakland Police Department and with the assistance of the Attorney General’s Office and California Department of Justice, to aid in the investigation and found the group spanned multiple criminal street gangs within the city of Oakland and that these crimes were multi-jurisdictional, spanning the entire length of California,” Shavies said.
Ultimately, the thefts were narrowed to Santa Cruz, Solano, Kern, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Merced, Fresno, Sonoma and San Diego counties, according to court charging documents. Local law enforcement agencies conducted preliminary investigations into their respective thefts and fed that information into Oakland’s investigation, Shavies said. A combination of social media postings and surveillance videos helped break the case, he said.
Defendants in the case, to varying degrees, have been charged with crimes including conspiracy to commit burglary, organized retail grand theft, multiple counts of commercial burglary, multiple counts of grand theft and attempted grand theft. Named alleged co-conspirators include Jaedon Woods, Dante Williams, Kenneth Stanley, Alvin Lovett, Damien Hayes, Rashad Christopher, Luis Lopez, Lavarr Lewis, Anthony Bender, Andrew Keegans, Joseph Russell, Kalif Collins, Deron Harrison, Mehki Goodspeed, Amari Bailey-Waters, John Griffin, Jayson Russell, Trevon Jamerson, Derek Taylor, Antonio Gainey, Robert Lovely and Jordan Rixter. None, authorities said, were Santa Cruz County residents.
Bonta said that of the eight men who had not appeared in court to date, at least one co-defendant was out of state and one was in prison. Some, if not all of the co-defendants last week, obtained free public defense legal support from different legal firms. Bonta said that outside counties had been called on to assist in providing the extensive legal defense needed.
