5 charged after break-in at Kirkland-area pot grower's home

The young men apparently knew there was plenty of marijuana and cash lying around Steve Sarich's Kirkland-area home because they'd either worked for the medical-marijuana advocate, attended seminars at his house or had previously broken in to steal pot, according to charges filed by King County prosecutors.

In all, five suspects have been linked to the home invasion early Monday that turned into a shootout when Sarich woke up and confronted two intruders, critically wounding one. In charging documents filed Wednesday in King County Superior Court, prosecutors laid out a complex case that points to insiders familiar with Sarich's home and operation.

Each of the five, including 17-year-old Dakota Laughren, who is being charged as an adult, was charged with first-degree burglary and attempted first-degree robbery.

According to the charging documents:

• Two of the five men — Jonathon Buell, 18, and Tyson Corcoran, 19 — obtained their medical-marijuana cards after attending a clinic on Sarich's property.

• Corcoran and Andrew "Drew" J.J. Carrigan, 19, were both employed by Sarich at some point.

• Carrigan and Laughren "had hit the house before," stealing "pounds of marijuana" and marijuana-laced snacks.

• The fifth suspect is Buell's roommate, Hristo Tzenkov, 19. Tzenkov, who was shot in the ankle, leg and heart by Sarich, called 911 from Sarich's backyard. He is being treated at a Seattle hospital for his injuries.

"We're still sorting out what their individual roles were, still sorting out" what, if anything, was taken from Sarich's house on Monday, said King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart.

Sarich said Corcoran and Carrigan — but not Buell — obtained medical-marijuana cards from a physician after attending a clinic on his property. Sarich operates CannaCare, an organization that provides marijuana plants to patients, out of his home.

He explained that patients send their medical records to Sentry Medical Group, a Seattle-based medical clinic that specializes in medical-marijuana patients. A physician reviews the patients' records to confirm they have conditions qualifying them for medical marijuana, Sarich said.

During a later "clinic" hosted by Sarich, the doctor meets with individual patients and provides written authorizations that include the number of plants and amounts of processed marijuana each requires, Sarich said.

Sarich confirmed that Carrigan once did odd jobs around his rental property, but said he does not remember Corcoran.

Including Monday's robbery attempt, Sarich said his home has been broken into eight times since May, but he says he reported only one of those previous incidents.

According to the charging papers, the suspects were smoking marijuana in Buell and Tzenkov's apartment in Bellevue early Monday. Around 2 a.m., they got into two cars and drove to Sarich's neighborhood, with the intent of robbing him of pot and cash, the papers say.

Laughren is accused of bringing along a shotgun, concealed in a guitar case, which "he bragged he had recently stolen," the charging documents say.

It is unclear how many of the five suspects entered Sarich's house through a basement door, but the charging documents place both Laughren and Tzenkov inside.

Sarich, 59, told police he was awakened by his dog barking and was confronted by two masked intruders when he walked out of his bedroom, the charging papers say. A suspect pointed a shotgun at him and Sarich fired his .22-caliber handgun; his gun jammed and he "retreated back into his bedroom just as the suspect ... fired a round at him from the shotgun," the papers say.

Sarich then "armed himself with another .22-cal[iber] pistol and returned fire, firing multiple rounds," according to charging papers.

Sarich, who suffered minor wounds to his face and arm, told responding King County sheriff's deputies that "he believed he had shot two suspects," the papers say. However, only Tzenkov was shot by Sarich.

According to King County Jail records, Corcoran posted $10,000 bail and was released just after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. Prosecutors had asked that he be held on $250,000 bail, but that request was denied by a judge, the charging papers say.

Carrigan is being held on $250,000 bail while Laughren and Buell are each being held on $300,000 bail, jail records show. Bail was also set at $300,000 for Tzenkov, who will be booked once he is released from hospital.

They are scheduled to be arraigned March 30 at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times news researcher Miyoko Wolf contributed

to this report.