Teen sentenced for role in Tacoma pot-shop burglary that involved shootout with guard

Peter Talbot
·2 min read
6

A 19-year-old defendant in the burglary of a Tacoma cannabis dispensary that involved five accomplices and an exchange of gunfire with a security guard was sentenced Friday to a little more than seven years in the state’s custody.

Hesikiya Jaelin Huff pleaded guilty May 23 to first-degree assault, first-degree burglary and unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle in the Oct. 28, 2022 burglary of Zips Cannabis, 2611 Pacific Ave. Huff was 17 at the time but was prosecuted as an adult.

A first-degree robbery charge was dropped as part of plea negotiations, records show.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge pro tempore Elizabeth Martin sentenced Huff to 89 months in prison, which included a 24-month deadly weapon sentencing enhancement. He will remain in custody of the Department of Children, Youth & Families until he turns 25, when he would transfer to the Department of Corrections.

The punishment was in line with what prosecutors and Huff’s attorney agreed to recommend, a sentence below the standard range of 10 to 13 years in prison before enhancements. According to court documents, the attorneys agreed to ask for a shorter sentence based on the defendant’s youthfulness and the findings of a Seattle psychologist who diagnosed Huff with severe cannabis-use disorder and described in a forensic psychological evaluation the negative influences the accomplices in this case had on him.

In his plea statement, Huff admitted he entered the shop with five accomplices after hours to commit theft, and he knowingly possessed a stolen vehicle. According to court records, the thieves threw merchandise into bags and were fleeing when a security guard confronted them.

People stand outside the front entrance of Zips Cannabis on the 2600 block of Pacific Avenue in Tacoma, Wash., on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022. At 2:25 a.m. Friday morning, warning South Sound 911 that an armed robbery had occurred. It was reported by a security guard working for the cannabis shop. One of the vehicles involved in the robbery drove through the front of the store. The armed security guard exchanged gunfire with multiple suspects who fled on foot and in one of the vehicles.

Antonio Jesus Benavides pulled a pistol from an ankle holster and fired several shots toward the guard but missed. The guard fired back and struck Benavides, who limped away. Benavides, who was also 17 at the time of the burglary, was sentenced in April to 12 years in the state’s custody.

Huff had no prior criminal convictions. According to his psychological evaluation, he was born in Lakewood and was raised by his grandparents. He moved to Tacoma at the age of 12 and was attending his final year of high school when he was arrested.

A third defendant who was 16 at the time of the burglary remains jailed pending trial.