According to a recent report by CBS News, the police in Worcester County, Massachusetts, are currently tracking down a group of teenagers who were caught on camera breaking into an e-cigarette store. Over the past few days, they have targeted two stores and may have carried out similar actions in other cities as well.
I noticed a large stone in front of my door, and my door was smashed to pieces,” said Mike Portelle, the owner of a tobacco and e-cigarette store.
In the surveillance footage from December 28th, these teenagers can be seen attempting to break into Porter’s store in Wolverhampton. They repeatedly tried to hurl a large stone towards the front entrance. Although they were unsuccessful in gaining entry to the store, their actions resulted in approximately $2500 in damages.
The use of a special type of glass prevents them from penetrating the three layers of glass doors,” explained Potter.
The Woburn police stated that this group of teenagers had used the same method two days ago to break into another e-cigarette store. They managed to enter the store successfully and stole merchandise and cash.
The e-cigarette shop does not have insurance. “We found it very difficult to obtain insurance, so we personally paid for it ourselves a few days after Christmas,” said Porter. “Just because we are an e-cigarette shop and there are many negative reviews around us, it does not deter us from being vigilant because this area needs more attention.
Porter believes that the same gang of thieves may have also attempted to break into a shop in Birmingham. We are currently trying to obtain the surveillance footage of this incident from the police, however, Porter has mentioned that he has already seen it.
What I noticed is that these children standing outside my shop wore the same sports shoes, the same jeans, the same sportswear and jackets,” Porter added.
