A convenience store owner on Hancock Street in Quincy was nearly struck in the head by a glass bottle this week after he and a clerk tried to stop two people from shoplifting, an altercation that ended with the store's front door smashed and police still hunting for the suspects.
The confrontation happened Monday at New Store On The Block, located at 1183 Hancock Street, according to WHDH. Surveillance video obtained by the station shows a clerk catching two people in the act of stealing before a fight broke out between the clerk and the shoplifters. Store owner Max Chaudhary told WHDH the clerk tried to catch the shoplifters as they attempted to flee with stolen goods.
During the scuffle, one of the shoplifters hurled a bottle at Chaudhary, narrowly missing his head, per the station's report. The bottle instead smashed into the store's glass front door, shattering it. Chaudhary was treated for minor injuries at the scene, the outlet reported.
Soda, Candy and Chips Keep Walking Out the Door
Chaudhary told WHDH that shoplifting has become a persistent problem at his store, with thieves typically making off with sodas, candy, and chips. He said groups of young people often arrive shortly after getting off the train, a pattern consistent with the store's location roughly 0.1 miles from the MBTA Red Line's Quincy Center Station, a major transit hub on the South Shore, according to Rent.com.
The owner said he has reported prior incidents to police, but the thefts have continued. Police are now searching for the two suspects involved in Monday's confrontation, the station's report notes. Despite the frustration, Chaudhary said his store remains willing to hand out items to people who are genuinely in need.
What the Law Says About the Bottle and the Broken Door
Under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 266, Section 30A, police officers have the authority to make a warrantless arrest for shoplifting based solely on a verbal statement from a store owner or employee establishing probable cause, according to FindLaw. That gives merchants like Chaudhary a direct line to law enforcement when theft is reported in real time.
But the incident escalated well beyond a routine shoplifting complaint once the bottle was thrown. Throwing an object such as a glass bottle at a person can be prosecuted as felony Assault with a Dangerous Weapon under M.G.L. c. 265, § 15B(b), which carries penalties of up to five years in state prison or two and a half years in a house of correction, regardless of whether the object actually makes contact, according to the Serpa Law Office.
The smashed front door carries its own legal exposure. Malicious Destruction of Property under M.G.L. c. 266, § 127 is charged as a misdemeanor when damages total $1,200 or less, but it escalates to a felony carrying up to 10 years in state prison if intentional damage exceeds that threshold, per the Serpa Law Office.
Why Low-Value Theft Often Ends Differently for Minors
The legal stakes for the theft itself are far lower than for the violence that followed. A first shoplifting offense involving goods valued under $250 carries a maximum fine of $250 with no jail exposure, while items valued at $250 or more expose a suspect to a fine of up to $1,000 and up to two and a half years in a house of correction, according to Degiacomo & Mikhlin P.C. Separately, state law also allows store owners to pursue civil demand letters against shoplifters or the parents of minor shoplifters, seeking penalties between $50 and $500 plus actual damages, independent of any criminal case.
First-time juvenile offenders facing minor misdemeanor shoplifting charges in Massachusetts are frequently steered toward diversion programs or pre-arraignment clerk-magistrate hearings involving community service or restitution rather than a formal court record, according to Mass.gov. That pattern helps explain why repeated low-level theft by young people, like what Chaudhary describes at his store, often does not result in lasting criminal consequences even when police are called.
No charges had been announced as of Thursday, and police continue to search for the two suspects.
