Festus Police are investigating an attempted burglary at the Star Buds Medical Marijuana Dispensary early on Aug. 29 when the would-be thieves crashed two cars into the building at 1168 Gannon West Drive, Chief Tim Lewis said.
The owner of the business called Festus Police at about 3:55 a.m. to report the incident.
“We got a call from an owner who advised he was watching people try to break in to his business. They were heavily armed,” Lewis said. “(The owner) was watching from his home. He has a camera system. It looks like the suspects tried to ram the front of the building (to get inside). That failed. They tried to ram the back of the building. That failed.”
Lewis said officers headed to the scene encountered the two dark-colored vehicles.
“The two cars were traveling at a high rate of speed up Gannon to Hwy. A and onto 55 going north,” he said. “We tried to stop them. We terminated the pursuit shortly after and alerted other departments.”
Lewis said one of the cars was found later in either north St. Louis County or north St. Louis.
He said the recovered vehicle, a 2020 Hyundai Elantra, had been reported stolen from a St. Louis hospital parking lot. He also said the car was damaged when it was rammed into the Star Buds building, but he did not know the extent of the damage.
Lewis said that while the suspects did not get into the shop or steal any items, they damaged the building.
“A front door window pane was knocked out and there were other damages,” he said.
Lewis said he did not have an estimate for the cost to repair the damage.
He said break-ins recently were reported at medical marijuana dispensaries around the region.
“We’re working with other agencies to see if (the break-ins) are connected.”
As of Tuesday, Aug. 30, no suspects had been identified and no arrests had been made, Lewis said. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call Festus Police at 636-937-3646.