DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO
Manager Bee at store’s entrance Thursday morning.
Standing behind two freshly smashed glass doors cordoned off by yellow crime tape, dejected Westville Wines manager Kumar Bee said he was in shock after a brazen smash and grab robbery today at one of the west side of town’s busiest intersections.
Glass shards and a mound of police crime tape at the business entrance.
The theft was reported at 4:25 a.m. Tuesday at the fork of Whalley Avenue and Fountain Street, leaving a mass of glass shards strewn on the ground. An employee of the next-door Dunkin Donuts called 911 to report that he heard a noise, which was the liquor store’s alarm.
According to Kumar, the entire cash register was taken in the robbery along with several choice bottles of expensive Macallan and Glenlivet 12-year-old, single malt whiskies.
Westville Wines relocated from its old location at Whalley and Tour Avenues two years ago.
Customers at the abutting Dunkin Donuts shop continued to stream in for their morning coffee at the busy commercial wedge in the heart of Westville Village, seemingly nonplussed by the nearby damage at Westville Wines. According to Westville Wines owner Sanjay “Sunny” Patil (also the Dunkin Donuts owner), who was first contacted by phone at 5 a.m. by police. The store is expected to reopen after clean-up and repairs to glass doors later in the day.
Patil noted that this was the first time the store had experienced a smash-and-grab theft. Police are investigating.
This is the second violent or destructive robbery we have had in Westville within a month. Not to mention several car chases, gun drops, etc. We need more patrolling of this area.