A string of break-ins has rattled the Boston area, targeting local smoke shops in quick succession. The early morning yesterday saw not one, not two, but three smash-and-grab incidents at different stores, leaving a trail of shattered glass and unease among business owners. According to Boston 25 News, the first smash-and-grab happened at 2:25 a.m. at the City Smoke Shop in Boston's North End. A crew of three masked and hooded perpetrators was caught on camera shattering the shop's glass door with a cinder block.
As captured on surveillance footage, the thieves conducted their looting frenzies in under a minute at each location, first creating havoc in Boston, then in Somerville, and lastly in Cambridge. "I'm pretty heartbroken about this situation. It sucks to come into work and find out that not only have you been robbed, but the store is thrashed," Waldy Nova of City Smoke Shop told Boston 25 News. Investigators are assessing the links between these crimes, which unfolded within a four-mile radius and little over an hour's difference, all featuring similarly described suspects.
The next target was D & K Smoke Shop in Somerville, where the same group used bricks to bust the glass and rummage through the storefront at around 3:03 a.m. "Once we see the video from the other stores, it’s probably the same guys," said Kumraz Gurung with D & K Smoke Shop, speaking about the misdemeanor in an interview with Boston 25 News. Merely 20 minutes later, the Cambridge Smoke Shop suffered a similar fate, observing its assailants smash through the glass and snatch goods and cash before making their swift escape.
The incident marks the third recent violation against Hitesh Prajapati's Cambridge business, intensifying his frustration. "I'm very pissed off. I have to suffer from it," Prajapati expressed to Boston 25 News. The chain of events, constituting three break-ins overnight in 63 minutes, has prompted an urgent police investigation to apprehend the culprits and forestall any further incidents. In doing so, they hope to restore a sense of security for shopkeepers who now face the task to "board it up, replace the glass, and hope for the best," as Nova mentioned in a WHDH report.
