Two teenage boys were busted for their part in a a string of smoke shop robberies – where hammer-wielding thieves made off with thousands of dollars worth of weed products, the NYPD said Wednesday.
The teens, 16 and 17, were nabbed on Monday and Tuesday respectively, and were charged with robbery in connection to the four-week spree in the Bronx and Manhattan, authorities said.
The first heist happened around 12:20 p.m. Dec. 26, when the crew entered the Blue Cooke Smoke Shop on Orchard Street near Stanton Street on the Lower East Side, police said.
Armed with hammers, mallets and a gun, they snatched one box of marijuana products while a 19-year-old man worked in the store, cops said.
Then around 3:40 p.m. Jan. 11, they allegedly entered a Greenwich Village smoke shop on the Avenue of the Americas near West Fourth Street, flashed a knife at a 26-year-old worker and grabbed more products, worth $1,500, police said.
On Jan. 14 around 12:20 p.m., they jumped over the counter of Moon Stage Smoke Shop on Lexington Avenue near East 27th Street in Kips Bay, punched a 23-year-old worker and fled, only managing to snag his cellphone, authorities said.
Later that same day, three suspects jumped over the counter of a bodega on East Gun Hill Road near Fenton Avenue, in the Pelham Gardens section of the Bronx around 7:15 p.m., police said.
They pushed a 53-year-old male worker, and grabbed about $2,000 in cash – plus merchandise valued at around $3,000, cops said.
They returned to Manhattan early the next day – sticking up Soho Convenience Smoke Shop on Broome Street near West Broadway around 9 a.m., authorities said.
They suspects jumped over the counter, where a 22-year-old woman was working, grabbed an assortment of marijuana products and bolted, cops said.
The robbers made their final stop around 11:50 a.m. Friday at the Grab & Go Smoke Shop, also on the Avenue of the Americas near West Fourth Street in Greenwich Village, cops said.
They breached the counter, and pocketed a stash of weed products valued at around $2,700 before fleeing.
No one was reported hurt in any of the crimes.
The young duo were joined by accomplices who have not yet been caught, though the NYPD could not confirm Wednesday how many of the crew are still at large.
Police also could not confirm how many of the incidents the two arrested teens have been linked to – though they say the older boy was charged with three counts of robbery, and the younger teen only one.