Cannabis business burglarized before death of Oakland officer says it’s not the first time

Oakland, CA – It didn’t surprise cannabis-related business owner Jessie Grundy when he learned his spot on the Embarcadero had been hit on Friday morning. It happened right before Oakland Police Officer Tuan Le responded and was shot and killed.

Cannabis businesses in Oakland were hit not once, but twice on the early morning of December 29 – in burglaries connected to the killing of Officer Le. Police said he was responding to a burglary at a cannabis business when he was shot in the head at the corner of 5th Avenue and Embarcadero.

Oakland police could not release the name of the business or the exact address, but Grundy said he rents space in the building that was burglarized. 

Grundy owns Peakz, an Oakland-based cannabis brand. He said he arrived at the scene of the shooting at around 8 a.m. and saw police flooding the streets. “I tried to get down there and it was all blocked off,” he said.

“We’ve had a lot of break in issues so it didn’t really surprise me,” said Grundy.

He said he shares the building with multiple other cannabis businesses, and that all of them were burglarized. “Basically that’s their delivery hub,” said Grundy.

It’s not the first time a robbery of a cannabis business turned violent. Back in 2022, roving robbers hit multiple stores in the East Bay.

Joshua Chase was shot in the leg during an armed robbery at his store on Lakeshore, Oakanna, in April 2022. He said his store hasn’t been hit since, because of how seriously he takes security.

“Running a business in Oakland, period, is very hard in today’s economic struggles. Running a cannabis business is extra hard,” he said. “If you’re a business that doesn’t have overnight guards, you’re going to get hit very frequently.”

KTVU asked state and city officials for the number of crimes related to cannabis businesses, but did not receive a response.

However, city crime reports show burglaries in Oakland were up in 2023 by more than 25% compared to 2022, and robberies with a weapon were up nearly 50%.

This time, the crimes claimed the life of Officer Le.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to his family because he was just trying to protect our businesses,” said Grundy.

Grundy said nothing was stolen from his business, and that he does not keep valuables at that location, but he can’t speak for other businesses in the building. 

Multiple store owners said the cost of repairing the damage when someone breaks in is more than the value of the stolen goods. In this case, an invaluable life was lost.