U.S. Marshals’ deputy charged with stealing bags of marijuana

A U.S Marshals deputy was charged this week with stealing 24 pounds of marijuana at gunpoint in Northern California, then fleeing from authorities, according to federal court documents.

Clorenzo Griffen, a federal deputy from Miami, and two other men face federal robbery, marijuana possession and weapons charges in connection with the Oct. 11 incident in Yuba City, according to a U.S. District Court criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

Federal officials say that Griffen and his accomplices, Rodney Rackley and Andre Jamison, wore protective gear displaying the word “Police,” when they approached three men seated inside a parked car outside a motel.

With guns drawn, they asked the men if they were on probation, then pulled one of them out of the car and asked to see his identification.

Griffen, Rackely and Jamison grabbed four plastic bags containing marijuana, placed them inside their Jeep and fled, according to the federal complaint.

Soon after, the men followed and searched for Griffen, but were pulled over by police.

That’s when the men told investigators they had been robbed.

A CHP officer spotted the Jeep and tried to pull them over. They got out of the Jeep, jumped over a concrete wall and ran away.

Authorities say Griffen reached for his handgun when a sheriff’s deputy engaged him with gunfire.

He was immediately taken into custody while Rackley and Jamison were found hiding in a dumpster.

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