Sonoma Pharmacy Owner John Loe Arrested on Weapon Possession Charges

Sonoma County’s most controversial pot purveyor has another headache: a recent arrest on weapons charges.

John Loe, known for his angry public tirades And anti-diversity floorswas arrested on the afternoon of October 18 at his cannabis store – Loe Dispensary, at the Big Bend intersection south of Sonoma.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office reported that 50-year-old Loe fired a Taser at customers, then pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at two people.

No one was injured. The Taser dart didn’t hit anyone.

Loe was arrested on charges of assault with a Taser and brandishing a firearm. He was arrested at the Sonoma County Jail and later released on $20,000 bail.

A conviction for fire a Taser It carries a prison sentence of up to one year. Exhibiting a firearm demands no less than three months’ imprisonment.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, the incident began when two customers were shopping at Loe Dispensary and left the business without purchasing anything. One returned about a minute later, believing the other person had left their phone in the store. The second customer re-entered the store shortly afterwards and said he found the phone in the car.

Something started an argument and Loe responded by brandishing the weapons, police said.

The law enforcement description matches a Yelp review someone posted the day after the incident, imploring people of color, especially Black people, not to patronize Loe Dispensary.

“Sir. Loe accused me and another black customer of trying to steal Rob, Thief from his store from the moment we walked in until the moment we checked out,” wrote a reviewer under the name Cashawd L. “Owner, Mr. Loe, is VERY distrustful of any BLACKS that entered his store, where an incident occurred that resulted in him pulling a military grade, police grade Tazer on us, and then also pulling his firearm on us with (the intent) to shoot us .

Yelp did not include the post in its “recommended” reviews nor did it include it in its business rating of Loe Dispensary.

Loe did not respond to Press Democrats’ requests for comment.

Loe is known for his verbal attacks on local officials, especially the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. For example, when the supervisors discussed a proposed disaster play for farm workers in October 2023, Loe berated them so vehemently that then-Chairman Chris Coursey adjourned the meeting.

Loe has denigrated people of color in other public forums. He also has one long-term quarrel with neighbors in rural Sevastopol who have objected to the shooting range he built on his property.

The Press Democrat found a clear link between Loe and a group of people who organized anti-Semitic and racist “Zoom bombings” of public gatherings a year ago, although Loe denied it was him.

Many people who worked in the local cannabis business were outraged when they heard that Sonoma County had awarded Loe $40,000 in the first round. grants for cannabis equality earlier this year, with money channeled through a state program.

He had attacked the concept of equity financing in his grant application, writing to district staff: “Shame on using race as a criterion. SHAMEFUL and ILLEGAL. Stop being racist towards white people (just like capitalizing it like you do to other groups).”

Loe based his claim to equality on his brother’s arrest on a marijuana-related charge. McCall Miller, the province’s cannabis ombudsman, told The Press Democrat that her office did not take Loe’s history of conflict into account when awarding the grants.

Loe’s cannabis company, Seventeen00 LLC, is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. His attorney filed a repayment plan with the US Bankrupty Court on October 25. It gives Loe an April 30 deadline to sell his home on Barlow Lane in Sebastopol (valued at $4.7 million, with liens of about $3.3 million) and pay immediately. are moneylenders from the proceeds.

He also owes money to the county, utilities and private creditors.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.