Crime and Courts

Series of smash-and-grab break-ins reported across DMV overnight

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Stores spent Tuesday cleaning up after a series of smash-and-grab break-ins across the D.C. area overnight.

Starting just after 1 a.m., there were a series of at least 10 break-ins in Northwest D.C., Montgomery County and Fairfax County.

While the crimes and suspect descriptions are similar, police have not confirmed whether they are connected.

At the Tysons Station shopping center, a nail salon and European Wax Center were hit. A caller told police someone kicked a door and they left in a black BMW with no tags and an accessible parking placard on the rearview mirror.

European Wax Center manager Lina O’Neill rushed in about 5 a.m. when she got word. She said security camera video showed the thieves first casing the place from the parking lot, then going back to break the glass. They entered twice before moving on. 

“It was like they were kind of on a mission, probably because they didn’t find anything at this location, because I hide things very well,” O’Neill said. “Plus, I had made all our deposits yesterday, so there was no cash.” 

At a nail salon along Leesburg Pike near Tysons Corner the thieves took personal belongings out of storage lockers.

On Connecticut Avenue NW in Washington, another European Wax Center, a Thai restaurant and a nail salon reported the same kind of crime. A video showed two men inside walking back and forth through a kitchen area.

In Montgomery County, a Brooks Brothers store in Chevy Chase, the Parkway Deli in Silver Spring and several businesses at a shopping center in Glen Echo were hit.

At some of the businesses, security video shows three people.

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