Boomerang burglars — same Greensburg store targeted again — in 2 days

Greensburg police officers were looking Wednesday for two potential suspects in connection with two burglaries in three days at Puff n Snuff, according to Chief Shawn Denning.

The thieves used a tool to break in through a door at the East Pittsburgh Street business in Greensburg Shopping Center, and police have stepped up patrols in the area.

Store manager Nicole Rice said $3,000 worth of cigarettes and $1,000 in scratch-off lottery tickets were taken. The thieves took cartons of Newport, Marlboro and Maverick cigarettes, among others. They typically sell for $100 per carton, which contains 10 packs.

“He wasn’t getting the cheap ones,” she said.

The first burglary happened on New Year’s Day, with a thief seen on surveillance images wearing “funny yellow shoes” stealing cartons of cigarettes, according to Officer Regina McAtee.

The second burglary occurred about 6 a.m. Tuesday and lasted about 30 minutes, police said.

Video surveillance from that incident showed one of the the suspects holding a dark-colored bag and wearing “distinct red shoes” while the other suspect sports black shoes. As in the New Year’s Day incident, the suspects are wearing masks and dark clothing.

Denning said police believe the two incidents are connected.

“Each time, they’re filling up garbage bags with cartons of cigarettes,” he said. “Clearly, they have to be selling them to someone.”

In Pennsylvania, cigarettes carry an excise tax of $26 per carton and $2.60 per pack in addition to sales tax, according to the state department of revenue. In the 1950s, the average price of a pack of cigarettes was 24 cents, according to 24/7 Wall Street based on data from the 2018 Tax Burden on Tobacco report published by the Federation of Tax Administrators.

That rose to about $1 per pack in the 1980s and nearly $4 in the 2000s. A pack averages about $8 now.

Police posted messages to the department’s Facebook page seeking help from the public to identify the culprits even though authorities had potential suspects in mind. Denning said help from the public is valuable and has helped police solve crimes in the past.

The lottery tickets taken from Puff n Snuff were reported as stolen, and any winners can’t be cashed in, Rice said. She believes a burglary at the store in June might have involved the same culprit.

A burglary at Pit Take BBQ on South Main Street was reported at 5 a.m. Wednesday, and authorities are looking into whether the Puff n Snuff thieves might have been responsible. Denning said a front window was smashed, and the burglars took cash from a safe.