LAKEPORT – Two men were arrested this week after they allegedly burglarized a local medical marijuana dispensary.

Brandon Scott Saulter, 19, and Reginald Bruce Mills, 21, both of Lakeport, were arrested shortly before midnight on Monday, according to Lt. Brad Rasmussen of the Lakeport Police Department.

They are alleged to have burglarized Visions of Avatar, a medical marijuana dispensary just outside the city limits, according to Rasmussen.

Lakeport Police Officer Jake Steely was on patrol that night and saw the two men in the 2700 block of S. Main near Rotten Robbie's gas station. Rasmussen said Steely made a consensual contact with the two and found them in possession of marijuana.

Rasmussen said Steely recognized Mills as being on parole for a burglary charge, and Saulter had a misdemeanor arrest warrant out for him.

While doing a parole search of Mills, Steely found not just marijuana but t-shirts from the store and other property alleged to have come from the establishment. Rasmussen said Saulter allegedly was carrying a bag containing marijuana, marijuana pipes, a scale and other paraphernalia.

Steely determined they had just burglarized the dispensary and arrested the men for possession of stolen property and burglary tools, said Rasmussen. The Lake County Sheriff's Office added a burglary charge.

After arresting the men, Steely contacted the sheriff's office, which sent deputies to investigate the burglary.

Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said one of the suspects allegedly told deputies that they went to the dispensary with the intent to burglarize it.

He said deputies found that a hole had been pried in the building's tin siding in order to enter it. Smoking pipes and rolling papers were taken, and the suspects allegedly found and pried open a lock box containing an unknown amount of marijuana.

Bauman said investigators still aren't sure of exactly what was taken. “We're still waiting for an itemized list of items stolen from the business owners.”

Both Saulter and Mills remained in the Lake County Jail on Wednesday, according to jail records.

Lakeport has been hit by a rash of commercial burglaries over the past month, including a theft of about 20 firearms from a commercial storage locker earlier this week, as Lake County News has reported.

Rasmussen said police are investigating whether Saulter and Mills might have had anything to do with those earlier burglaries. “We don't know at this point for sure,” he said.

Bauman said he's been checking with sheriff's office sergeants about burglaries in other parts of the county.

So far he's heard back from Sgt. Gary Hall, stationed in Lucerne, who is reporting a spike in residential burglaries in that area. However, he said he doesn't currently have statistics on the crimes.

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