MARGATE, FLA. (WSVN) - Margate Police are investigating two separate smoke shop burglaries that occurred overnight, with suspects targeting merchandise and causing property damage.
The first theft happened at Vapor Shark, located at 5514 West Sample Road, at around 3 a.m., Tuesday.
The front window of the business was smashed, presumably being the entry point the crooks used in their smash-and-grab.
7News spoke with one of the owners of a vaporizer store, who said the thieves were efficient and escaped with products worth thousands of dollars.
“Two people threw a brick, broke our window, came in. They had bins and gathered as much as they could and were out within two minutes,” he said. “It looked like a bank heist. They came and knew exactly what they were doing. They looked like professionals.”
The owner released surveillance images of the crooks, one was seen wearing a cream-grayish jacket, black pants, a black ski mask and gloves. The other wore a blue jacket, black shorts, black gloves and also had a mask.
The shaken owners quickly boarded up the window but said they may eventually have to add shutters to prevent another recurrence as this isn’t the first time their business has been targeted.
Furthermore, they said they’re losing a lump sum of money between the products and the repairs.
“You feel violated and it’s draining. It’s a lot of money that we lose. We are a small business, a mom-and-pop, 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,” he said.
Another break-in happened at Sky World Smoke Shop, located within a two-mile radius on Royal Palm Boulevard and Rock Island Road.
Margate Police said they responded to the 7400 block of Royal Palm Boulevard an hour later in reference to a glass break alarm and found several boxes of vapes scattered throughout the parking lot.
Resembling the scene of the first break-in, swindlers also smashed a window of this business.
The owner of the smoke shop was reluctant to speak with 7News, so it’s unclear how much of their goods were stolen.
Police are investigating whether the two incidents are related.
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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