[URBAN NOTE] "Customer calls police after Ossington dispensary allegedly robbed"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Emma Mcintosh and Ebyan Abdigir report on one new, wholly unnecessary, reason to be skeptical of dispensaries in Toronto: If they won't report violent crimes committed against them, there are obvious public safety issues.

Justin was paying at the counter of his local dispensary when he says about four masked men - one with a gun - burst through the door, screaming for him to get on the ground.

The alleged holdup happened around 10 p.m. Dec. 21 at the Canna Clinic on Ossington Ave. according to Justin, who said police told him not to publish his full name in the interest of his own safety.

About 20 customers and eight staff flattened themselves to the ground as the robbers cleaned the dispensary out of cash and marijuana, Justin said.

“I was petrified,” he said. “Everything was stripped when they were gone.”

When the ordeal was over, Justin said he left, assuming staff would call the police. But when he went by Thursday morning, he was surprised to find that wasn’t the case.

When he asked about the robbery at the counter, he said the staff either claimed they didn’t know about a robbery or denied outright that it had happened. After an employee finally admitted that a robbery had taken place, Justin said he asked if they’d called the police.