A bodega on Courtlandt Avenue in Melrose was broken into two mornings in a row, with a group smashing a window, slipping inside and making off with vapes, watches and bags of marijuana before fleeing on foot both times. The NYPD has now released images from the scene and is asking the public to help identify the people responsible.
Investigators say the first break-in happened around 3:45 a.m. on Sept. 27, when a group forcibly entered the business after breaking a window, according to News12 | Bronx. The group stole vapes, marijuana bags and a watch before running off. Then, at around the same time the following morning, a group entered the same bodega again and stole more vapes, more marijuana bags and another watch, fleeing on foot once more.
Police have not said whether the same individuals were involved in both incidents, but the near-identical timing and method — a broken window, an early-morning entry, the same categories of stolen goods — have the Melrose business back on edge twice in 24 hours. The NYPD is asking anyone with information to call 1-800-577-TIPS.
A Tense Stretch for Courtlandt Avenue Merchants
The back-to-back burglaries are not the only trouble Courtlandt Avenue businesses have faced this fall. On Oct. 5, three men robbed a bodega on the same street at gunpoint, threatening a 27-year-old man, the station's report notes. Two of the three jumped over the counter and grabbed $1,500 from the register before all three fled toward East 151st Street; no one was injured in that robbery.
A separate armed robbery struck Morocco Deli, also on Courtlandt Avenue, when three young men held up the store at gunpoint on a Sunday around 9 p.m., according to Univision. Two suspects in that case jumped the counter, stole $1,500 in cash and fled on foot, per an NYPD report cited by the outlet. Univision reports the NYPD is investigating a broader series of robberies that has hit several Bronx bodegas.
Part of a Wider Pattern Across the Bronx
The NYPD has also been seeking the public's help identifying two people wanted in connection with a separate robbery pattern spanning the 40th, 42nd, 50th and 52nd precincts, as Hoodline reported. That case covers a different stretch of the borough, and the evidence does not establish a connection between it and the Melrose bodega break-ins.
The surge in reports fits a broader trend: the Bronx recorded 452 reported robberies in a recent 28-day comparison period, up 14% from 389 during the same stretch a year earlier, according to the Bronx Times as cited in Hoodline's earlier reporting. For now, no suspects have been identified in the Melrose bodega break-ins, and anyone with information is urged to come forward.
