Mansfield police search for 9 suspects in smoke shop break-in

MANSFIELD, Mass. (WLNE) — Brothers Smoke Shop in Mansfield was broken into Monday around 1 a.m. and now, police are now searching for close to 10 people responsible for the more than $20,000 in damages.

Mansfield police said they are searching for as many as nine people after reviewing video surveillance footage.

“We received a phone call from the police department. A detective came here, the glass was broken — we checked the camera and at least nine to ten people came in,” Maulikkumar Panchal, the manager of Brothers Smoke Shop, told ABC 6 News.

Maulikkumar said around $20,000 worth of products from their store were stolen, as well as all of the cash from the register.

A loyal customer who lives near the store said they were shocked this happened so close to home.

“I just think that this store is newly opened. I just think that it is a miscommunication of what Mansfield stands for. The main common area, kids are walking everywhere. It is just surprising, especially nine kids that did this,” said Grace Finin.

“It says more about what we should do to protect and encourage children around here to do. It is extremely disappointing and from what I know them from, they have been amazing and I do feel very terrible,” Finin continued.

Since the break-in, the smoke shop has added bars to the windows. The shop is now fully operational.

Management told ABC 6 that they will be hiring more employees, but they hope that something like this does not happen again.