A 37-year-old man attempting to rob a local marijuana dispensary with a gun was shot and killed by police in a nearby restaurant, according to a local law enforcement taskforce.
On Tuesday, March 14, Nicholas Mauro Sosa entered the Grant Road location of Tucson House of Cannabis and attempted to rob the business.
According to a Tucson Police Department press release, the department received multiple calls around 3:30 p.m. reporting a robbery in progress.
Officers soon arrived on scene and began to search on foot for the suspect, eventually finding him hiding in the Benny's Mexican Restaurant immediatelyΒ to the west of the dispensary.
An officer on scene identified as 14-year TPD veteran Sargent Jesse Chlopowicz gave Sosa multiple verbal commands to get on the ground, which Sosa reportedly refused to follow.
Chlopowicz then fired his weapon and immediately sought cover.
Soon after, SWAT units and a Hostage Negotiation team arrived and the restaurant perimeter was surrounded.Β
Police attempted to contact Sosa before entering the restaurant and finding the him severely wounded. He was later declared dead at the scene.
According to a Pima Regional Critical Incident Team report, officers originally believed multiple people were in the restaurant with the suspect. However, those individuals were able to leave the restaurant uninjured.
No officers or other members of the community were harmed during the incident, according to the release.Β
The Pima Critical Incident Team, lead by the Pima County Sheriff's Department, is now in charge of the case, although the TPD Office of Professional Standards is conducting a separate investigation to determine if any agency policy was violated.
This is a developing story. For more, be sure to follow TucsonMarijuanaGuide.com and the Here Weed Go! podcast Instagram page (@Here.Weed.Go) for more updates.
