Pubdate: Tue, 27 Oct 2015 Source: Orange County Register, The (CA) Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321 Authors: Scott Schwebke and Alma Fausto SANTA ANA MARIJUANA DISPENSARY TARGETED AGAIN BY POLICE SANTA ANA - An embattled medical marijuana dispensary where Santa Ana police were filmed during a May raid purportedly eating pot edibles was searched by officers again Monday and ordered to close. Santa Ana police carried out a search warrant at Sky High Collective on West 17th Street, Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said. "They continue to operate illegally," Bertagna said. "They don't have a permit." Marla James, a volunteer at Sky High, provided the Register with a copy of the search warrant, which indicated that police had confiscated about 22 pounds of marijuana edibles, computers, electronic tablets and digital video recorders from the dispensary. Santa Ana Code Enforcement Department officials "red tagged" Sky High and a smaller dispensary several doors away, meaning both establishments are prohibited from operating. Southern California Edison cut off electricity to Sky High, Bertagna said. Several Sky High customers who went to the dispensary Monday were disappointed to find it had been shut down. "It's like your favorite store getting closed," said Christian Vasquez. Omar Tawil of Tustin, another customer, expressed similar sentiments. "They've already closed it a couple of times, but they open back up," he said. "I guess it's on to the next one." Santa Ana voters approved Measure BB last year, which enables the city to allow and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries. The city had a lottery to select 20 dispensary operators. Sky High was not among those chosen. So far, three licensed dispensaries have opened in Santa Ana. Monday's incident marks the fourth time in five months that Sky High has been the focus of legal action from the city. Santa Ana police went to Sky High on Aug. 6 to support city code enforcement officials for an unspecified administrative action. On July 8, police briefly detained Sky High employees while executing a search warrant. On May 26, several officers brandishing firearms, some wearing masks, stormed the dispensary. During the raid, officers removed several video cameras but failed to find one that later recorded them purportedly eating pot edibles and making derogatory remarks about James, who is an amputee and uses a wheelchair. Matthew Pappas, a Long Beach attorney who represents Sky High, has provided the Register and Santa Ana police with two versions of the raid footage, a highlight reel with subtitles and what he says are unedited video clips. The clips have been widely shared on social media. Santa Ana police launched an internal affairs investigation into the actions of three officers who participated in the raid. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom