NEWS: Medical pot advocate shot, wounds robber at Kirkland home

An outspoken advocate for medical marijuana was wounded early Monday but managed to shoot a burglar at a Kirkland house where he grew pot legally.

Sheriff's deputies are looking for two other suspects who may have been involved in the attempted home-invasion robbery.

Detectives also are investigating whether the attempted home invasion is tied to a similar incident in January at the Kirkland house.

The home in the 11400 block of Juanita Drive Northeast -- part of unincorporated King County near Kirkland -- is known to deputies for legal medical marijuana grows.

About 4:45 a.m. Monday, a woman called 911 saying there were intruders in the house and that her boyfriend was shot, a sheriff's office spokesman said. Responding deputies were preparing to go onto the property when dispatchers received another call from a man saying he'd been shot -- a man later identified as a robbery suspect.

That 19-year-old Renton man and the 59-year-old resident, Steve Sarich, had traded shots, according to investigators. The teen was hit multiple times and rushed to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.

Sarich, who has publicly advocated for medical marijuana laws for years, was taken to a hospital for minor wounds from shotgun pellets, according to deputies.



Sarich told investigators he and his girlfriend were asleep when their dogs started barking. He got up, and two men inside his house confronted him.

At least one of the suspects fired shots, deputies said.

About 8 a.m., sheriff's deputies received a report of a man trying to flag down cars on Holmes Point Drive, which is close to the shooting scene.

The man was trying to flag a ride with cash in his hand, deputies said. That man, also 19, was arrested as a second robbery suspect.

"Detectives now believe there were a total of four suspects involved in the incident," sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said shortly before noon Monday. "Two suspects fled in a vehicle and have not been located."

Urquhart, who identified the suspect and victims by age, did not have detailed descriptions of the two suspect still at large.

On Jan. 13, Sarich reported a similar incident to the Sheriff's Office, according to investigators. He reported finding two men in his home about 2 a.m. and chased them off with gunfire.

Detectives said Monday it's unclear if the events are related.

Sarich uses the home to operate CannaCare, a medical marijuana advocacy group, and is licensed to grow medical marijuana.

Long a thorn in the side of law enforcement for his vocal, thumb-in-the-eye advocacy, Sarich has insisted that the government is harassing medical marijuana users -- himself included -- who legitimately use the drug to manage pain associated with multiple sclerosis, cancer and other illnesses.

In January 2007, drug enforcement agents raided Sarich's Everett home, which was then headquarters of CannaCare. Police documents said more than 1,000 plants were confiscated, as well as computers that Sarich said contained personal information of about 200 men and women authorized to use the drug for medicinal purposes.

At the time, Sarich called the raid on his home an attack on the people who support medical marijuana. No charges were filed against Sarich following the raid.

Detective Roy Alloway of the West Sound Narcotics Enforcement Team claimed at the time the amount of marijuana was excessive for medical use.

Washington voters approved the use of marijuana for certain medical conditions through a citizens initiative in 1998. The law allowed patients a 60-day supply, but it wasn't until 2008 that the state defined that 60-day amount as as 24 ounces of usable pot and 15 plants.

The Kirkland home where Sarich now lives is the subject of a court case in which a bank wants the occupants evicted.

A bank bought the property at a foreclosure sale on Oct. 16, and contends in court documents that the occupants have refused to surrender possession.

Source: Seattle P.I.