A dog was shot to death during a raid on a medical marijuana dispensary, and deputies were looking for its owner today.
A search warrant was served at 6:36 p.m. Wednesday at Closed Circuit Collective, 27491 Jefferson Ave., while the shop was open, according to sheriff’s officials.
The dog lunged at a deputy when he went in, and he reacted by fatally shooting it, said sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin McDonald.
“It’s a shame. You have a dog that’s just doing what dogs do – defending its territory – and a deputy doing what he has to do,” the sergeant said today.
The animal was a Spanish Mastiff, and it weighed about 125 pounds, he said.
The sheriff's department went into the dispensary to gather evidence of an assault that happened there on May 22.
To read more about the raid, .
A 50-year-old Canyon Lake man went in to buy marijuana and got into an argument with somebody. The fight escalated, and the suspect hit the man with a baseball bat, according to the sheriff’s department.
To read more about the assault, .
Investigators found evidence of the assault – including dried blood – and confiscated a bat, a “large amount” of marijuana and paraphernalia used in drug sales, McDonald said.
The Temecula Police Department’s Special Investigation’s Unit was looking into the legality of the operation today.
“Our opinion right now is it’s illegal, what they’re doing there,” McDonald said, but the investigation is not over, and the finding could change.
Deputies detained six customers and employees, questioned them and let them go. None gave useful information about the assault, the sergeant said.
Investigators were looking for Beau Attride, the owner of the dispensary, for questioning. So far, law enforcement was unable to contact him, according to McDonald.
Anybody with information on this case was encouraged to call the Temecula Police Department at 951-696-3000.
