Police say at least half a dozen small businesses have been victims of thieves who smashed through doors and windows and grabbed cash registers before running off.
Four businesses were hit early Friday morning in the Tatnuck Square section of Worcester, Massachusetts. Police believe the break-ins are linked.
All four businesses were closed Monday, left to deal not only with empty cash registers in some instances, but also costly damages after doors and windows were shattered. The shops that were broken into include Tatnuck Pet Supply, the Plant Works, Tatnuck Meat and Seafood and Bloomers Florist.
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Video footage from Tom’s Deli on Millbury Street during the early hours of Thursday morning shows the suspect smashing the glass door, unlocking it, walking in, grabbing the safe and leaving in about 30 seconds.
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In separate but recent burglaries, the owners of Crust Bake Shop said both of their locations on Main Street and West Boylston Street were broken into. In a similar smash-and-grab fashion, people broken in and stole a safe, costing thousands of dollars in damages over the past five weeks.
“They’d come in and just stolen the money from Valentine’s Day and smashed the windows," Crust Bake Shop co-owner Nathan Rossi said. “It’s hard not to be frustrated – and violated – and violated, especially. Somebody broke in and were inside.”
“We usually do a deposit like once a week so we have money in the safe for a few days, and they got all that and broke our big window, the doors, like all glass in the front," Crust Bake Shop co-owner Alexis Kelleher said. “For that to happen, it’s just a blow -- a financial blow. In black and white, it hurts us. We’re a small business.”
Anyone with information on the burglaries is asked to call the Worcester Police Department at (508) 799-8466.
