It appears as if some North County men were protecting their property when they shot at and pistol-whipped two others who they suspected of trying to rob them. The twist is that the suspected target of the robbery was marijuana plants.

On Oct. 20, Mariposa County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a Greeley Hill Road address about a trespassing and theft in progress. When they got there, they found two men who said they had been “hiking” with another friend, Brandon Casper. They said Casper “disappeared” while hiking, and then they heard a gunshot.

The men told the deputies they ran back to their truck, which was parked at a home on Greeley Hill Road. All four tires had been slashed.

They were approached by another man, later identified as Garrett Gallant, who was pointing a .22 rifle at them. He ordered them to their knees and struck one with the butt of the rifle on the neck and the other on the side of the head.

Gallant’s roommate, Robert Allen, has a medical marijuana permit to grow six plants. Allen told deputies that he and Gallant were inside the house when they noticed someone in the “garden.” That person, they said, was Casper, who took off into the brush after Allen fired a shot into the air. One of the plants in the garden had been pulled from the ground.

Gallant later admitted to deputies that he hit the two men with the rifle and had seen Allen fire one shot. Both men were arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

A short time later, deputies found Casper walking down Highway 132 near Horseshoe Bend. They asked if he had jumped into the marijuana garden. He said he had and said he took the plant.

Casper was arrested for attemtped theft and drug charges. He was also held on two felony warrants from Tuolumne County.

The two victims of Allen’s assault were not identified.