COUNTY MAY END UP PAYING FOR POT PLANTS STOLEN FROM MEDICAL MARIJUANA
PATIENT

SOUTH KITSAP - A card-carrying South Kitsap medical marijuana patient whose pot
plants were stolen Sunday will probably get money, but not his plants,
back from the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office.

The plants are now evidence in the criminal case against two Bremerton
residents, ages 47 and 34, who are accused of stealing them.

The plants may be needed in court and will likely spoil before they
can be returned to their original owner, Kitsap County Sheriff's
spokesman Scott Wilson said.

"We don't want to provide something back that could cause illness,"
Wilson said.

Equipment used in growing the pot, which was also stolen, will be
returned to the patient once the case is over. The man will have to
file a claim with the county to get compensated for the plants, Wilson
said.

The patient will tell the county how much he thinks the plants were
worth, then the two parties will negotiate to figure out exactly how
much money he'll get, Wilson said.

The patient called 911 from his Ebbert Drive home on Sunday after he
and his son came home to find a strange SUV parked near their house,
according to Kitsap County sheriff's reports. The SUV took off as they
arrived.

The man and his son found that 15 marijuana plants, equipment used to
grow them, and a car had been stolen, deputies said. State law allows
qualifying medical marijuana patients to have 15 marijuana plants.

A box containing kitchen utensils and paperwork was found next to the
house and appeared to have been left behind by the suspects. Deputies
found a man's name on the paperwork and tracked him down Monday,
reports said. That man said he had loaned an SUV that matched the
description of the one driven from the Ebbert Drive home to a
47-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman.

Deputies found that pair at a Sixth Street residence in Bremerton.
While there, deputies smelled marijuana coming from inside. The two
eventually confessed to taking the pot. The 47-year-old said he was
growing it to support his family, because he'd recently lost his job.

Deputies hadn't found the stolen car as of Wednesday
night.

The pot and the equipment were seized by deputies and placed into
evidence. The two men were arrested and taken to the Kitsap County
jail on $50,000 bail.