COLORADO SPRINGS — Three Fort Carson soldiers had a perfectly good explanation for allegedly breaking into a pot dispensary in Colorado Springs early Saturday.

They were doing a public service.

“We were just trying to get rid of all the marijuana,” Pfc. Ramone Hollins told officers after the trio were arrested inside Rocky Road Remedies at 2489 S. Academy Blvd., on the city’s southeast side, according to an arrest affidavit.

Hollins, 22; Pfc. Darius Thomas, 23; and Pvt. Cory Young, 22, were arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary after police say they accidentally locked themselves inside the dispensary during a burglary-gone-bad.

Officers freed the men, and they were booked into the El Paso County jail, each on $10,000 bail. All three soldiers serve with the 1st Battalion, 2nd Aviation Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, an attack helicopter unit.

Hollins is detailed to human resources, Young is an Apache helicopter mechanic and Thomas is a unit supply specialist, service records show. None had served in combat.

The store owner, Renze Waddington, said the men were inside for a matter of minutes and didn’t have a chance to take anything before they were detected. The store’s marijuana and cash were secured in a safe, he said.

Surveillance footage showed the trio running from one end of the store to another “like rats in a maze” after realizing police were outside, Waddington said.

Lance Benzel, The Gazette