Armed thieves hit Brentwood smoke shop, steal thousands of dollars in merchandise

A Brentwood smoke shop owner is angry and shaken up after his store was hit by robbers in broad daylight. 

It's the second time in a month the store's been targeted. But this time, the robbers were more brazen and dangerous. 

“It scared us, scared the girl. Scared my wife, everybody, and scared my customer,” said shop owner Gary Singh.

He said four masked men wearing hoodies went into the store at around 12 p.m. Sunday. Singh’s niece was working and grabbed a large stick, pushing the men out of the store. 

That's when they threatened her with a gun.

“They said ‘we have a gun, we can shoot you,’” Singh said.

One of the men fired a gun into the air, hitting the next door business.

That’s when Singh's niece stopped fighting back. The men ran back in and cleared the shelves and the back storage room -- filling their loot bags with cartons of cigarettes -- before running out and taking off in a getaway car.

“I'm blown away that this happened, I’m blown away this time of the day and the fact that they’re stuck in a position like this, it’s just ridiculous,” said customer Rev. Dwayne Eason.

Singh said the store was also just burglarized about a month ago. That time, the thieves used a car to break through the front windows and once again filled their bags up with cartons of cigarettes. Customers say they just can't believe it.

“This is like a neighborhood store. Even though it’s a smoke shop, it’s a neighborhood smoke shop. You’ve got a lot of customers that have been coming here for years and these are just like the salt of the Earth people. They’re really really good American citizens,” said customer Samantha Wiliams.

“My opinion is a PD needs to get serious on maintaining enforcement and being visible and not just putting words to it,” Brentwood business owner Joe Weber said.

To make matters even worse, thieves also targeted Singh's liquor store in Antioch last month. The three break-ins have totaled tens of thousands of dollars in losses, and none of it covered by insurance.

“I’m living on this business. I’m supporting my family. My kids, they go to university school, I want to make sure I can support my kids, everybody,” Singh said.

Police said smoke shop break-ins are happening all across the region. Concord police say they had three burglaries last week all targeting cigarettes.

“I’m worried, worried they’re going to come back, it’s getting worse,” Singh said.

Singh said he hopes police can catch the criminals and put a stop to the smoke shop thefts.