Those must be some extra sticky fingers.

The Boston Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a man they say robbed a South End candy shop at knife point.

The man, captured on surveillance video, entered Madeleine’s Candy Shop at 47 Clarendon St. just before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. He then walked up to an employee while holding “what appeared to be a knife,” according to a BPD statement, and demanded cash. He fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

Police describe the man as a white or light-skinned Hispanic man wearing a maroon sweatshirt, a gray wool cap, gray sweatpants, and a black mask.

Police ask that anyone who recognizes the man or who has information on the theft to contact detectives at (617) 343-5619 or to provide information anonymously through the CrimeStoppers tip line by calling 1-800-494-TIPS (8477), texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463), or through the online portal at Police.Boston.gov/CrimeStoppers/.

FBI recovers stolen 17th century Italian urn

Boston FBI agents recovered and returned a 17th century urn stolen from an Italian church.

“It’s incredibly exciting when the FBI can recover a piece of history that carries such deep emotional and cultural significance,” said Ted Docks, the special agent in charge of the Boston FBI. “After all, this reliquary urn is a tangible link to intense religious devotion and a connection to the generations who lived and prayed with it.

It represents the intersection of faith, history, and art – elements that are invaluable to the people of Italy and to humanity as a whole,” he continued. “This case highlights the power of international cooperation and our collective commitment to safeguard the world’s cultural treasures, no matter where they may be.”

The reliquary urn, which authorities say is a significant piece of Italian history and is registered with the Historical Artistic Heritage Items of the Italian Episcopal Conference, was stolen sometime in August 2022 from the church of San Michele Arcangelo di Cangiano.

The piece turned up in the hands of an antiques dealer in the American Northeast on Feb. 11, 2026. The dealer, who purchased it at some point from an Italian dealer, voluntarily relinquished the urn to the FBI, who gave it back to the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Boston-based FBI agents worked with the agency’s art crime team, its attaché in Rome and with the Italian Carabinieri, a paramilitary national police agency. The FBI’s art crime division was launched in 2004 and has recovered more than 20,000 items valued at more than $1 billion, according to the agency.

A reliquary is a medieval holder of a relic, according to Bowdoin College’s art history department, an item that “belonged to a saint … or, in many cases, the relics were believed to be body parts of a saint, truly powerful objects in the eyes of many medieval Christians.”

2 teens arrested for Haverhill mill fire

Two teens have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Haverhill mill building earlier this week.

Firefighters responded to the mill at 14 Stevens St. at around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday after callers reported heavy smoke and flames. Firefighters arrived to “intense fire conditions that required a coordinated, multi-alarm response,” according to the Haverhill Police Department.

Crews worked the scene all day and were still fighting hot spots at least as late as 11:22 that night, when the firefighter union made its own post on the efforts.

The building was determined the next day to be a total loss, according to a statement issued by Mayor Melinda Barrett, Fire Chief Christopher Cesati, and city Building Inspector Thomas Bridgewater.

“Due to the intensity of the fire, the resulting heat severely compromised the structural steel supporting the four-story building,” the update stated. An independent structural engineer “determined that the building sustained a critical loss of structural integrity and will require full demolition.

That same day, Haverhill PD announced the arrest of 18-year-old city resident Isabella Sargent, who they charged with arson of a structure and conspiracy to commit arson.

On Thursday, police announced they had also arrested a second teen, this one a 17-year-old juvenile, on charges of arson and related offenses.

Police report that there were no civilian injuries related to the fire and that the incident remains under investigation.

The police ask that anyone with any information contact them by calling 978-373-1212 ext.1551.

Police search for Roxbury shooters

Boston police are looking for three males they say are responsible for shooting two other males on Kendall Street in Roxbury last month.

Police responded to 3 Kendall St. in Roxbury a little after 7 p.m. on March 29. There they found two male victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were treated at local hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries.

One suspect fled toward the parking lot behind that address while the other two fled toward where Kendall Street intersects with Shawmut Avenue.

Police on Wednesday released a surveillance still of the suspects and ask that if anyone recognizes them or has any information regarding the shooting to contact detectives at (617) 343-5619 or through the CrimeStoppers tip line. Crimestoppers information is detailed at the bottom of the first Crime Briefs entry.

More than 50,000 people will run in one of the Pittsburgh Marathon events this weekend. It’s capped off by the marquee event of the marathon itself.

Call it a runner’s high or insanity; the marathon takes just about everything a person can muster up physically and mentally. That’s why supporters line the course, especially the tough miles down the stretch.

“It gives you a boost. It gives you a little bit of that rush to keep going, knowing that people are standing out there in sometimes not great conditions cheering you on,” said Ali Ewig with Dancing Gnome Running Club, which will be cheering around mile 23.

Running clubs, which are recent additions to the cheering sections, along with neighborhood groups like the Bloomfield Citizens Council and the Highland Park Community Council, which have been cheering for decades, all do their part. It can feel more like a block party with the vibes the groups give off as they help every runner get back Downtown. 

“It’s a blast to finally be able to celebrate a sport that a lot of people do by themselves en masse together with everyone,” Dan Lampmann of Yinz Run Club said. His group will have a cheer section near PNC Park and on the South Side.

Arguably one of the toughest stretches can be crossing the Birmingham Bridge and climbing up the hill to get into Oakland. It can be a real gut check time for runners. So, Scottie Brown, dressed as Spiderman, will run up the hill with people to keep them going.

“I just run with them, encourage them, bring light to their day as they are halfway through the race, hitting that tough hill,” Brown said over Zoom.

And whether they are a yinzer running through town or someone from the other side of the world, there is pride in cheering people through the city’s neighborhoods.

“I think that we all have a lot of pride in cheering on these people that are maybe for the first time or maybe for the 50th time running this monumental personal goal for themselves,” Jessica Bowser Acrie of the Highland Park Community Council said. Her team will be set up around mile 20.

Sunday morning promises to be another marathon with miles of cheers.

Connecticut lawmakers on Wednesday approved more reforms aimed at reining in towing companies in the state, following reporting by The Connecticut Mirror and ProPublica that exposed problems in state law.

The Connecticut Senate passed a bill that would create an online portal so Connecticut drivers can track their towed cars and require towing companies to consider the age of towed vehicles before they’re sold.

Last year, the legislature overhauled the state’s towing laws to end a practice in which towing companies could start the process to sell people’s cars in as little as 15 days if the firm deemed the car to be worth less than $1,500. The window was one of the shortest in the country, CT Mirror and ProPublica found, and meant many people who couldn’t afford to quickly pay the towing fees lost their cars.

The 2025 reform law required 30 days to pass before cars could be sold, and it ordered towing companies to accept credit cards, let people retrieve their belongings from towed cars, and warn owners before towing cars from private property over minor issues.

But CT Mirror and ProPublica continued to hear from residents who said they never received notice that their cars would be sold because their address on file was outdated or because their vehicle was still registered to someone else. The news organizations also performed an analysis that found that many towing companies valued vehicles much lower than their estimated retail values, allowing them to sell the vehicles more quickly.

The Connecticut Senate sought to fix both those issues with the latest bill, in part with the creation of the portal. The legislation, Senate Bill 413, would put new limits on which cars can be sold quickly: Towing companies could only sell vehicles after 30 days if they are at least 15 years old.

The new bill breezed through the Senate, 35-1. The House is expected to vote on it in the next few days.

“There are bad actors,” said Transportation Committee Co-Chair Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford. “We have read about it in the press. It’s what prompted us to take action and really kind of take a look at our towing statutes on the whole.”

She said that legislators wanted to find language that strikes “that necessary balance between protecting consumers from predatory behavior but also supporting the many reputable small businesses that provide these essential services to our communities.”

The bill received bipartisan support. Committee ranking member Sen. Tony Hwang, R-Fairfield, urged members to support the measure. He said it builds on last year’s work, which he called “remarkable landmark legislation.”

The measures came partly from a working group created by last year’s towing reform law that spent the past several months studying towing policy and making recommendations.

The working group, composed of towing companies, consumer rights advocates and Department of Motor Vehicles officials, struggled to come to a consensus on policy changes. DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrera, who chaired the working group, ultimately issued recommendations that didn’t have support from everyone on the panel.

The new bill would create an advisory council to keep studying towing policies and how owners get their vehicles back. The council would also monitor the portal, which would be set up by the state DMV and allow owners to see where their vehicles have been towed and whether they are up for sale.

The bill also addressed towing fees. Towing companies have frequently complained that the fees they are allowed to charge are too low. The bill says fee rates should be set every three years and that those changes must be based on government measures of inflation.

Guerrera said the portal will make his agency more transparent and will help consumers find their vehicles more quickly.

“You have to be accountable and take things head-on,” Guerrera said. “This portal that we will get running as soon as possible will allow someone to go online and — even without all their information — find where their car is.”

But consumer advocate Raphael Podolsky, who served on the working group, said the portal will mostly help towing companies do away with paperwork and make the system easier for the DMV to monitor. He warned that some drivers might not be able to access the system.

“First of all, everybody doesn’t have a computer, and second of all, everybody who does have a computer would not know to go to a DMV portal, and third, not everybody has internet access, even if they have a computer,” Podolsky said.

Sal Sena, president of the industry association Towing & Recovery Professionals of Connecticut, said he thinks the portal will “make it easier for everyone” and that the state is “on the right track.”