Police claimed that on Tuesday, two thieves armed with hammers attacked a shopkeeper at a smoking store in Brooklyn, beating him and taking CBD oil and money.
On Thursday morning, the NYPD released surveillance footage showing a robbery that took place at the Hubble Bubble cigarette shop on Avenue P near E. 4th Avenue in Gravesend.
Around 11 a.m., the thieves allegedly entered the store, took a sledgehammer from behind the counter, and threatened the personnel while demanding CBD oil.
Police said that during the altercation, they repeatedly assaulted a 30-year-old employee in the face and torso.
According to the police, the suspects rode off with $800 worth of CBD products and $150 in cash.
A witness last saw them travelling east on Avenue P before turning south onto East 4th Street.
The beating caused severe agony and bruises for the sufferer. His condition has stabilised since he was taken by EMS at York Health + Hospitals/Coney Island.
In Another Instance, We See That Store Owners Are Selling Weed Without The Proper Permits
At a Planning Commission hearing on the proliferation of smoke shops selling non – licensed marijuana or untaxed smokeless tobacco on Wednesday, NYPD Chief of Guard duty John Chell testified that robberies at these establishments increased by more than 40 minutes between first second generations after cannabis legalisation in New York state.
While the state of New York has been slow to open regulated stores since recreational marijuana was legalised in March 2021, illegal and untaxed companies have been openly selling the commodity.
The number of robberies committed against smoke shops increased dramatically from 2021 (137) to 2022 (593).
According to the NYPD, that works up to approximately one heist for every two tobacco businesses. The NYPD said that 1,321 have been discovered so far; 428 have been located in Brooklyn, 373 on Nyc, 226 in Astoria, 204 in The Bronx, and 90 in Staten Island.
Chell noted that “we determined first from 593 robberies that around $1.5 million in cash” was stolen, which works out to “roughly $2,500” per theft, excluding items.
At 2022, the first licenced store opened its doors in Astor Place a few days after Christmas.
Meanwhile, the NYPD has largely delegated responsibility for cracking down on businesses that sell marijuana openly without a licence to the city’s Sheriff’s Office, a relatively small division of the Department of Finance. This division is tasked with enforcing civil instead than criminal regulations.
Also read: Mob Psycho 100: Why Season 3 Failed To Live Up To The Hype?
Police Good, Police Bad
The smoking shops are not just being targeted by the sheriffs. Smoke City on Nine Avenue & West 49th St in Hell’s Kitchen had an employee wounded in the leg late on Tuesday night after a fight broke out between the staff and a group of teenage customers.
Recently, there were two armed robberies in Brooklyn and the Lower West Side, and both victims were shot. Paper tags or plate coverings on registered vehicles are used in some of these robberies, Chell claims.
According to Chell, the NYPD is advising smoke business owners to be vigilant. He explained that they provide information on how to stay safe using various security measures such as cameras, lights, and buzzer systems.
Also read: Misfit Of Demon King Academy:- Season Two Review
Manhattan Democrat and City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera commented, “we all feel very, very dissatisfied with this entire process” after visiting the groundbreaking of the legal Housing Works dispensary. The “illegal” establishments that have “popped up notably in [their] closeness to schools” have Rivera worried.
In response to lawmakers’ demands for stronger action from law enforcement, Councilwoman Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn) attacked his colleagues, saying, “It must be very stressful for the law enforcement and the district attorney’s office to cope with these inquiries about enforcement.”
Yeger remarked that the people who are now asking such inquiries are to blame for the problems they now face.
City Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) revealed after the meeting that her office counted the number of cannabis establishments on the Lower East Side in November.
Also read: Season 2 Of Shinchou Yuusha Has Returned?
According to Brewer, “there were 26, since and, the number has gone up to 28,” with 22 of those stores now selling cigarettes without paying taxes.
The Tax Foundation, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to research and education on tax policy, found that New York had the highest rate of untaxed cigarettes in the US (53.5%), costing the state capital of Albany $1.1 billion annually in lost income.
Even after being closed down by the police some tobacco shops in Brewer’s district reopened a few days later, she said.
Chell said to THE CITY after the hearing that it generally takes a month or two after a raid to return and check on the status of the smokeshop. He added that the officials are quite busy right now.
Also read: Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2: Find Out When Will It Premiere And What To Expect From The Show!
Conclusion
Since the city council formed a task force in November to crack down on illegal cannabis sales, with the NYPD and the sheriff’s office among its members, it has appeared that the city is taking a tougher stance on the problem.
