Police in three different communities are investigating if three overnight break-ins in Boston, Somerville and Cambridge are connected.
Three masked thieves are seen on surveillance video busting into the City Smoke Shop in Boston’s North End at 2:31 a.m. Tuesday. Moments before, they hurled a large brick into the glass door, shattering it to get in and steal.
“It’s infuriating, you know what I mean?” said Waldy Nova with City Smoke Shop. “People work hard to establish a business to make sure we’re doing right by the community around us and to have something like that happen is disheartening, it’s heartbreaking.”
Three stores hit overnight
Then 30 minutes later at 3:00 a.m., police said a strangely similar scene played out in Somerville.
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Thieves break into D and K Smoke Shop in Somerville.
CBS Boston
Three masked guys wearing the same clothes as the Boston break in are caught on camera wielding a large brick to smash the window at D and K Smoke Shop. They snatched cash-vapes and cigarettes.
“It happened within one minute,” said owner Kumraz Gurung. “Disappointment because it’s a small business.”
Then again, a third strike not too far away in Cambridge with the same MO at 3:40 a.m. Three masked thieves are seen on video bursting into the Cambridge Smoke Shop and stealing cash. They even toppled over a case full of product before taking off.
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“It’s $3500 around it will cost us,” said Hitesh Prajabata at the Cambridge Smoke Shop.
The shop has already been hit three times since last January. “Don’t do this thing because we are very small business and it affects us a lot,” said Prajabata.
Police are now investigating if the three break-ins in the three different communities are connected.
“Get a job”
Business owners wonder if the thieves are after cash or product to resell, but they want the thieves to realize how much damage they leave behind.
“I mean get a job you know what I mean?” said Waldy Nova. “Work, there’s so many people who are working for their livelihoods and for their families to have the American dream right.”
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No one has been arrested and if you recognize the suspects in any of the videos, please call Boston, Somerville or Cambridge police.
The break-ins are the latest in a string a burglaries targeting vape and smoke shops in the Greater Boston area. Last week, thieves were caught on camera breaking into a vape shop in Brighton.
Tammy Mutasa
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Tammy Mutasa joined WBZ-TV as a multi-skilled journalist in January 2023.
ALLSTON, MASS. (WHDH) – Boston police are searching for a gunman who opened fire in Allston Thursday and left one person hurt.
Police responded to a radio call for a person shot in the area of Brighton Avenue at approximately 6:46 p.m. When officers arrived, they said they found a male “juvenile” suffering from a gunshot wound. The victim’s age has not been released.
Boston police said the shooter fled the scene and remains at large. No arrests have been made.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Boston police.
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This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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A State Police trooper who was allegedly found “slumped over” in his car at around 5 a.m. in the South End with an open container of High Noon vodka has been “relieved of duty.”
Mass State Police confirmed to the Herald Wednesday night that Trooper Donovan Preston, 31, arrested for alleged drunken driving in Boston this past weekend, “has been relieved of duty.” Preston’s base pay is listed as $80,213.
A Boston Police report states that police arrived at Herald Street on Saturday to see Preston “stopped in lane 2 of the road” with his brake lights on. The suspect was slumped over “with his eyes closed,” the report adds.
“The officer observed that the car was on and in drive. The officer observed an open container of alcohol (High Noon) in the cupholder,” according to the report. The BPD officer then knocked on the window “for approximately 10 seconds before the suspect lifted his head up.”
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Once he picked his head up, police said he appeared “confused and he looked around. The suspect’s vehicle began to roll to which the officer announced, ‘Boston Police. Open the Door.’ ”
Preston stopped on the three-lane, outbound road with his black BMW in the middle of two lanes.
A State Police spokesman said in an email: “Trooper Donovan Preston was relieved of duty and will be subject to a department discipline process.” All other comments were directed toward the police report.
That report, provided to the Herald Wednesday night, added that State Police were notified after Preston’s arrest.
The can of High Noon was logged into the evidence book.
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This latest OUI case comes as State Police Sgt. Scott Quigley is being investigated in an alleged drunken driving fatal crash in Woburn in 2023 that killed a disabled passenger in a van.
In the Quigley case, his blood alcohol level reportedly tested at a .114 at the hospital following the crash (the legal limit is .08). That detail came out in a wrongful death suit filed by the victim Angelo Schettino’s family.
‘Unless he’s s###-faced, I’m not worried’: Mass State Police dash cam catches aftermath of deadly cruiser crash [+video]
The smashed van at the Woburn crash scene. (MSP body camera video screengrab)
