Pot Dispensary Raided

A medical marijuana dispensary on Jefferson Avenue was raided today.

Deputies with the Temecula Police Department served a search warrant around 6:50 p.m. on Closed Circuit Collective, 27491 Jefferson Ave., said sheriff’s Lt. Scott Madden of the Special Enforcement Bureau.

The dispensary and its organizer, Beau Benjamin Attride, were at the center of several recent criminal cases.

An assault happened in the shop on May 22. Two men who the sheriff’s department declined to identify got in an argument that escalated into a fight. The victim, a 50-year-old man from Canyon Lake, was wounded, leaving a trail of blood leading out of the shop, said sheriff’s Cpl. Courtney Donowho.

To read more about the assault, .

Also, the head of the dispensary admitted to violating probation on May 31 and was sentenced to serve a stricter probation and time in jail on the weekends, according to court records.

He pleaded guilty in November 2009 of cultivating and possessing marijuana for sale, endangering a child and possessing a firearm despite previous felony convictions, records show.

He was either convicted or pleaded guilty to felony offenses in 1995 and 1997 also.

Attride declined to comment about his criminal record last week. He also denied he was running a dispensary out of the store and claimed it was a T-shirt printing business.

The location is listed on Weed Maps, a website that lists dispensary locations.

Officials declined to say whether the search related to the assault, the owner’s probation violation or another issue. “There are probably many things overlapping,” Madden said.

The search had nothing to do with its function as a dispensary or violating an active city-wide ban on such organizations, the lieutenant said. “Our primary purpose here was not about the marijuana.”

Officials declined to say how much marijuana was in the store and whether it would be confiscated. “We’re seizing evidence related to the investigation and any contraband that may be present,” Madden said.

At least five patrol cars, an animal control van and a forensics truck surrounded the shop as deputies investigated.

Animal control officers moved a large dog out of the back of the store as it lay in a sheet and caged it in a van. Officials declined to say whether the animal was dead or tranquilized.

An investigation was ongoing today. Anybody with information was asked to call the Temecula Police Department at 951-696-3000.