Quick Take
Felony shooting charges against Santa Cruz cannabis dispensary owner Derek Hubbard will move forward despite California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s announcement last week of 22 arrests in the breakup of a major retail cannabis theft operation police say was involved in the incident and a string of other burglaries in Santa Cruz County and beyond. Fellow cannabis retailers remain outraged that Hubbard, whom they see as a victim, is being charged with a crime.
A Santa Cruz cannabis dispensary owner’s court case is set to move forward next week even after California Attorney General Rob Bonta handed down numerous charges in announcing the bust of what he described as an organized retail cannabis theft ring that struck several businesses in Santa Cruz County and is connected to the murder of an Oakland police officer.
On Nov. 13, 2023, eight people broke into cannabis distributor Decibel Gardens’ facility on Encinal Street in Santa Cruz, setting off a security alarm. Owner Derek Hubbard drove to the facility, where he fired several shots at the burglars and rammed his car into their vehicles before police arrived. Hubbard was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Friends and others in the business expressed outrage at the time, saying that Hubbard was a victim in the circumstance.
The showy announcement last week of 22 arrests in a string of such thefts — dubbed “Operation Sticky Fingers” in a news conference at Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office headquarters — came days before Hubbard is due back in court.
Despite the recent arrests, Hubbard will still face felony charges. Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Michael McKinney, who is prosecuting Hubbard’s case, told Lookout on Thursday that the case would proceed as scheduled. Hubbard is facing seven felony gun charges, and is due back in court on Monday for a preliminary hearing.
“[The charges] are obviously related, but we still have to deal with how Mr. Hubbard responded to the incident,” McKinney said.
Hubbard’s attorney, San Francisco-based J. David Nick, declined to comment on the case.
Meanwhile, fellow cannabis business owners express disappointment — and some outrage — over how Hubbard’s response has been handled.
“We are taking one step forward and two steps back if they are really going to throw Derek in jail,” said CannaCruz co-owner Grant Palmer. “All those guys who were busted last month all got bail, but the court didn’t give Derek bail.”
Palmer, who said he is good friends with Hubbard, called the situation “completely unjust.”
“All he wants to do is operate his business and be at home with his family,” said Palmer. “I’d love to hear the answer to why [the justice system] considers Derek more of a threat to society than cop-killing gangsters.”
Palmer said he hopes that with the new information surrounding cannabis thefts, charges against Hubbard will eventually be dropped.
3 Bros CEO Chad Maxwell said that even though local cannabis businesses have been trying to beef up their own security systems to better protect their property and products, it wasn’t enough to deter the string of burglaries.
“We heard rumors this gang was armed, and Derek was responding to a repeat robbery at his location,” he said. “I’m not surprised that someone arriving at the scene would want to be armed not knowing what they’re going to be experiencing.”
Maxwell argued that proceeding with Hubbard’s case sends the wrong message.
“It sends a message to criminals that they can move with impunity, and if shop owners try to stop them, then they are the ones who might be on the hook,” he said. “We being business owners have more to lose in engagement than the thieves have. The arrest, or risk of arrest, doesn’t seem to do much.”
Maxwell also said that he understood Hubbard’s instinct to show up and attempt to defend his business.
“As one individual arriving, compared to the group size at Derek’s, do you just sit back and say, ‘Eh, whatever, we’ll wait for the police to arrive’? That’s the mode we were operating in and it hasn’t worked,” he said. “I’m a supporter of small businesses having a right to defend their livelihood against a group of thieves.”
FOR THE RECORD: This article has been updated to correct a sentiment attributed to 3 Bros CEO Chad Maxwell. Maxwell said he understood Derek Hubbard’s instinct to defend his business, but stopped short of condoning his response.
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