Smoke Shop Smackdown: Brooklyn Man Indicted For Brawl During Cannabis Bust

BROOKLYN, NY — A smackdown in an illegal cannabis shop led to charges against a Brooklyn man accused of assaulting a taxman who came to shut down the store, authorities said.

Arjante Moss, 27, faces a Brooklyn Supreme Court indictment that levels charges of assault, obstructing governmental administration and harassment, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.

Moss "didn’t just defy the law by working in a shop that sold unlicensed cannabis products, but also allegedly violently attacked an investigator as he tried to lawfully shut down the illegal business," Gonzalez said in a statement.

"In Brooklyn, we have no tolerance for attacks on law enforcement personnel and will now seek to hold the defendant fully accountable."

If convicted, Moss is facing a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. He remained out on bail and was ordered to return to court on March 20, Gonzalez said.

The charges stem from Dec. 18, when a finance supervising investigator from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance arrived at Big Chief Exotics Smoke Shop, located at 7323 Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, with a closure order, Gonzalez said.

When Moss realized the visitor was a law enforcement agent, he pushed the agent out and forcefully closed the door, trapping the agent's arm, prosecutors said.

The agent managed to free his arm from the door frame but suffered bruising to his left arm, authorities said.

Following the attack, agents moved in to permanently close the store, which had been under the Office of Cannabis Management's radar for two previous inspections, officials said. During those inspections, unlicensed marijuana products were seized, and notices of violation were issued, prompting orders to stop selling weed with a license, authorities said.

"Tax Department criminal investigators are engaged in vital work. Anyone who assaults them or otherwise interferes with their law enforcement duties should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," John Harford, deputy commissioner for the state's Department of Taxation and Finance, said.

State Attorney General Letitia James said that tax investigators confiscated more than 600 pounds of flowered marijuana and other cannabis products that were not tested by regulators, valued at $6.7 million.

"Despite multiple raids and temporary closures, Big Chief has brazenly flouted both the law and an outrageous number of neighborhood complaints in operating their illegal shop," Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents Bay Ridge, said.

Recreational marijuana is legal in New York, but legally regulated stores have been slow to get started. There are just two legal dispensaries in Brooklyn.

In contrast, hundreds of unauthorized cannabis dispensaries have blossomed across the city, threatening to smoke out the legal ones, according to city officials.

“These illegal pot shops have stolen tax revenue from the state, and they have stolen business from small, legal dispensary owners who follow the law and operate in good faith. If we care about a strong and safe legal marijuana industry in New York, then we must shut down the bad actors," Brannan said.

Authorities have shut down eight other unlicensed marijuana shops outside the city, James said.