OAKLAND — General Manager Hilary O’Brien seemed a bit overwhelmed as she described what she saw Thursday afternoon at the Ivy Hill cannabis dispensary.
A day earlier, a Lexus SUV had driven through the front wall of the business on Park Boulevard. The group inside the vehicle then stole about $21,000 of its inventory; Oakland police are investigating.
“It is absolutely humbling,” O’Brien said by phone from the business, where she said lines were long as customers brought dollars along with words of encouragement. “I’m floored by the outpouring of support.
“It’s not only from our neighbors and our community, but it’s from the cannabis industry, too. A bunch of places have offered our employees lunch and have made other gestures. It’s been pretty amazing to feel it and experience it.”
According to O’Brien, the robbery happened around 4 a.m. She found out when the alarm company that watches over the business contacted O’Brien at home. The invasion was caught on videotape by the dispensary’s surveillance cameras.
“I turned on our security cameras on my computer and watched it real time as they destroyed our store,” she said. “They didn’t rob us blind, but they robbed us of quite a bit.”
The suspects mainly made off with marijuana buds and vape pods, according to O’Brien. She said they were in the store for about “6 or 7 minutes.”
“If they’d had more time and taken more product, it may have been insurmountable,” she said of the loss. “We’ve only been here 10 months and something like this can kill a small business.”
The business employs about 20 people, she said, adding that the damage to the store was much more costly than the product lost.
“It’s three times (that damage) to the building,” O’Brien said.
Still, business was bustling Thursday. O’Brien said construction workers were on site 45 minutes after the building had been breached and rebuilt the wall.
“We weren’t going to let them get away with what they did,” she said. “You have to show strength in a situation like this.”
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