A trip to a local dispensary ended with an unexpected repair bill after a customer discovered someone had apparently kicked his vehicle while he was inside making a purchase.
The victim told deputies he parked next to a white SUV before heading inside the dispensary.
Nothing seemed unusual at the time.
But after completing his business and driving away, he noticed something wasn’t right.
According to the report, the driver’s-side mirror was hanging down and the rain guard on the driver’s door had been knocked loose.
Although he was able to reattach the mirror, the mirror glass itself had been damaged and could no longer be adjusted properly.
Believing the damage had occurred while he was inside the business, he returned to report the incident and later contacted law enforcement.
When deputies reviewed surveillance footage with dispensary employees, they reportedly found a likely suspect.
According to the report, video showed a man leaving the dispensary wearing what appeared to be a traffic-style safety vest or high-visibility shirt.
As he walked through the parking lot, the man allegedly passed between a white SUV and the victim’s vehicle before appearing to kick the victim’s car.
The man then walked around to the driver’s side of the SUV, got inside, and left the property.
The incident reportedly occurred around 9:09 a.m.
While the video appeared helpful, deputies hit a roadblock familiar to many criminal investigations.
The dispensary was willing to allow officers to view the footage, but employees advised that company policy required a subpoena before a copy of the video could actually be released.
Why Businesses Don’t Always Hand Over Security Video
Many people assume businesses can simply hand surveillance footage to police whenever a crime occurs.
In reality, many large corporations have strict legal policies governing surveillance video.
Those policies often require approval from a corporate legal department before footage can be released, even when employees want to cooperate.
Companies adopt these rules for several reasons:
- To protect customer privacy.
- To ensure evidence is preserved correctly.
- To avoid releasing footage involving unrelated customers.
- To comply with corporate liability and legal requirements.
- To maintain a documented chain of custody if the footage is later used in court.
That can be frustrating for victims and investigators, but it doesn’t necessarily mean a business is refusing to help.
In many cases, companies immediately preserve the footage while waiting for the proper legal paperwork.
