MEDICAL MARIJUANA LOBBYIST PROTECTS LIFE FROM HOME INVASION ROBBERS

Executive director of CannaCare in Kirkland, Finn Hill resident Steve
Sarich recently led a rally on the steps of State House to call on
state legislators to provide more legal protection for medical
marijuana patients. Monday morning Sarich, 59, who legally grows
medical marijuana in his home, protected his life from would-be robbers.

Police believe four suspects attempted to break into Sarich's home in
the [address redacted].

"(Sarich) said he and his girlfriend were asleep when their dogs
started barking," said King County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.

Sarich, 59, went to check on the dogs and ended up exchanging gunfire
with one of the suspects, a 19-year-old Renton man. Sarich hit the man
more than once, critically wounding him. Sarich was also injured. A
21-year-old woman living in the house called 911 at 4:47 a.m.

Sarich was taken to Evergreen Hospital with relatively minor wounds
from shotgun pellets and released. The woman was not injured.

"The woman said there were intruders in the house and her boyfriend
was shot," said Urquhart. "Deputies responded and were staging to go
onto the property when another 9-1-1 call was received. This time it
was from a male who was outside the house and said he had been shot."

The man turned out to be a suspect.

The Renton man was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with
life-threatening injuries.

Guardian 1 and SWAT teams were brought in to assist in the search for
other suspects, one of which was later picked up attempting to
hitchhike out of the area.

"About 8 a.m. Sheriff's deputies received a report of a man trying to
flag down cars on Holmes Point Drive, which is relatively close to the
location of the incident," said Urquhart. "Reportedly, the man had
cash in his hand as he tried to flag down a ride."

The man was eventually taken into custody as police learned he was one
of the suspects. Police are still looking for two more suspects they
believe fled the scene in a car.

Sarich's home has been a target of would-be robbers in the
past.

"On Jan. 13 the resident reported a similar incident to the Sheriff's
Office," said Urquhart. "He found two men in his house about 2 a.m. He
chased them off and fired off a couple of rounds to make sure they
kept going. At this point it is unknown if the two events are related.
Detectives will be looking into that, however."

[address redacted] was closed to through traffic between [address redacted]
and [address redacted] from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. due to the investigation.