FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Surveillance video captured a trio of burglars breaking into a Fort Lauderdale smoke shop and snatching up multiple items.
Video from inside Snoopy’s Smoke Shop off North Federal Highway shows the men ignoring the blaring alarm as they got what they needed and took off.
An employee, who didn’t want to show her face, tells 7News this type of crime hurts small businesses.
“It does take a lot of money out of everybody and it’s just like, even though they didn’t take much, it’s still over $1,000 dollars worth of products,” she said. “It does a lot of damage to us and fixing the door too, it’s a lot of money.”
It appears this isn’t the first time this trio has struck a smoke shop. Surveillance cameras captured the same people wearing what looks like the same clothes at another smoke shop nearby. Detectives are still looking into it to see if the two burglaries are connected in any way.
7News has reported about similiar break-ins earlier this week in Margate. Crooks broke into two smoke shops early Tuesday morning about an hour apart and two miles from each other.
The owner of Vapor Shark, one of the stores burglarized shared surveillance pictures of the people, he said, visited his shop and broke the front window.
“They had bins and gathered as much as they could and were out within two minutes. It looked like a bank heist. They came and knew exactly what they were doing. They looked like professionals,” said the owner of Vapor Shark. We’ve been here for 11 years but it hurts a lot, especially these days, it’s money. We don’t really need to be losing any of it.”
The second Margate business targeted was Smoke Shop off Royal Palm Boulevard. Thieves in this burglary also smashed the front window to get inside.
Authorities in both Margate and Fort Lauderdale have not said whether or not any of these burglaries are connected.
If you have any information on this crime, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
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