Three teens have been arrested after an apparent smash-and-grab break-in at a smoke shop in Hudson, Massachusetts, early Saturday morning.
Hudson police say they responded around 3:30 a.m. Saturday to a burglar alarm activation at the DAB Smoke Shop, located at 234 Washington St., and found the front entrance of the store smashed.
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Officers concluded on scene that a vehicle had likely backed into the storefront, so they sent a notification to area police departments to be on the lookout for a vehicle with damage consistent with backing through a storefront entrance.
A short time later, a Marlborough police officer called in that they had observed a vehicle with damage matching what was reported.
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That officer and a Massachusetts State Police trooper in the area stopped the vehicle in question.
After an investigation, during which police found merchandise allegedly stolen from the smoke shop, three boys were arrested -- a 15-year-old from Boston, a 16-year-old from Quincy, and a 17-year-old from Danvers. The vehicle was impounded, police said.
Chief Richard DiPersio thanked the officers and detectives from the three agencies involved for their aggressive response, diligent investigation and teamwork in quickly identifying and apprehending the suspects.
"This is an example of strong police work, and it should send a message that break-ins and burglaries at our local businesses will not be tolerated," DiPersio said in a statement. " We have tremendous relationships with our neighboring agencies, and that teamwork was on full display early Saturday morning, resulting in the arrests of three juveniles in this audacious and brazen criminal act."
According to police, two suspects were held on bail, and the third was released to his legal guardians. They will be arraigned in the coming days in Framingham Juvenile Court. Their names were not released given their ages, and it's unclear if they obtained attorneys.
The shop owner, who didn't want to be identified, tells NBC10 Boston that he was stunned at the amount of effort these teens allegedly went through to spend less than 30 seconds inside before taking off. He's relieved the three were caught.
A surveillance image provided by the owner shows the glass all smashed in and the door gone entirely. It has been replaced by a temporary one for now.
"It was more just the cost of replacing the door, of the temporary door. The force of the entry broke a bunch of cases, shoved them all together, a bunch of the glass in the cases broke so you're talking about $10,000 damage or you know 10% of that with theft," he explaind.
The owner says this is not the first time that he and his business partner have dealt with this. They own another store in Framingham that was targeted two months ago, and just last week, other stores in Danvers and Saugus were hit by thieves.
