HAYWARD DISPENSARY VANDALIZED

A downtown medical marijuana dispensary was vandalized in two
separate incidents exactly one week apart at the same time and in the
same way, police said.

Someone threw two distinctive landscaping bricks through the front
window of Hayward Patients' Resource Center (HPRC) about 2:30 a.m. on
Feb. 4 and at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, said Hayward police Lt. Gary Branson.

No one attempted to enter the building, located on Foothill Boulevard
between A and B streets, but the broken glass set off an alarm, he
said. Police have no suspects in either incident, he said.

Branson added that it's unusual for the same place to be vandalized in
the same way at the same time.

"It looks like they're being targeted," he said.

HPRC owner Jane Weirick also believes her business was targeted. Since
nobody broke into the building, she suspects it was someone who
doesn't want to see her dispensary thrive, someone who wants her to
have more costs and police calls, Weirick said. It cost $3,000 to
replace the broken windows, she said.

Weirick's is one of three known medical marijuana dispensaries
operating within a couple of blocks of one another on Foothill
Boulevard. They had been operating against the city's zoning law, but
the City Council recently grandfathered them in after a long public
debate.

The Hayward Hempery's Hayward Patient Group and Local Patients
Cooperative are allowed to operate under certain conditions for three
years. HPRC, the newest of the three, can operate for just one year.
If one of the others closes, HPRC can stay open for three years.

The status of The Hempery might be in limbo. It appears to have been
closed for a least a week. Owner Cheryl Adams didn't return phone
messages left Wednesday and Thursday on her personal line, and numbers
for her business have been disconnected.

Ron Ikebe, owner of The Hempery's building, said the business is open
as far as he knows.

Adams was almost evicted from the building last month because she was
behind on rent. But a man, who has asked to remain anonymous, came to
her rescue, loaned her $12,000 and became a business partner to help
keep the dispensary open, he said.

The man said that things at The Hempery were going well until one day,
without warning, Adams changed the locks. He hasn't been able to get
in or heard from Adams since, he said.

"I jumped into it so quick. I wanted to help," he said, "But I should
have looked into the situation more thoroughly."