Medical marijuana dispensary robbery in Lakewood: "We literally have nothing"

A surveillance shot from the Green Tree Medical break-in.

"Basically, two guys busted our window and came in," he says. "We lost $10,000 or more, not counting our stock. It was nothing really good..."

Police officials have been warning about criminals targeting dispensaries. See this November 18 blog, in which Lt. Jerry Schiager, commander of the Northern Colorado Drug Task Force, talks about "at least five armed robberies, seven burglaries and one kidnapping" related to marijuana in the Fort Collins area over the past year and a half or so -- "and those are only the ones we know about."

Branan and his brother Chris, who opened Green Tree, at 3222 South Vance Street, five months ago today, weren't cavalier about security. They installed a video system in their store, and it worked well, capturing the two mask-wearing men taking action. "We had the money in a safe," Branan says. "You can literally see them pick it up."

As for product, Branan says, "We lost at least $6,000 worth. They even took all the edibles, all the pipes and tinctures. We literally have nothing."

The Branans are so devoid of supplies that they don't know when they'll be able to reopen for business again. Regarding restocking, Branan says, "I have friends, and we were on the news and stuff, so hopefully somebody can help."

He and his brother are hoping to figure out the next step in the Green Tree story today. Until then, he says, with a considerable amount of understatement, "It's been a hard weekend for us."