The Moonlight Smoke Shop in Franklin, Massachusetts, was broken into Wednesday morning, marking the third smash-and-grab at the store in just two months.
“I have no words,” owner Hardik Patel told NBC10 Boston Wednesday. “I don’t know what we should do. Should we stay open? Shut down? I don’t know.”
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Franklin police say three teenagers were charged in the first smash and grab on Feb 4. The owners caught the license plate of a getaway car when it happened again on March 10. Then the third break-in just after 7:30 Wednesday morning – all captured on surveillance video.
“They found a couple of kids from the first incident. Second incident -- I don’t think they found anything,” Patel said.
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The thieves were on camera as they tried to kick in the window, then shattered the glass door using a metal bar, filled up their bags with $4,500 worth of vape products and drove off – all in under a minute. The owners provided police with a picture of the license plate Wednesday, but it wasn’t immediately clear if police were able to track down the suspects.
“As soon as I got a notification -- before even looking at my camera -- I called 911 because I knew it was probably another break-in,” said Patel, who noted that April 1 marked the first year since he opened the shop. “I’m frustrated. You know, we work so hard to make some money – to survive.”
The owners spent the day replacing the glass door with the help of Laurie Godin, who owns Vanity Hair Salon next door. Godin said she hopes the community will rally in support of the shop owners.
“I’m really upset for them because they’re the nicest people in the world – he was voted man of the year in his town,” Godin said. “There’s nothing they can do but keep spending money, keep rebuilding. And they shouldn’t have to.”
One insurance company already dropped Hardik’s business, and now he said he’s afraid to file another claim.
“I could try to but I think my insurance is going to go up for a third time and I’m afraid none of the insurance companies are going to want me,” Hardik said. “Honestly, I have no idea what should we do now, you know?”
Patel's is not the only business to be targeted by thieves. Similar crimes have been reported recently in East Boston, Saugus and Framingham.
