Blue State Blues: NYC Bodega Owners Offer $5K Reward to Capture ‘Midnight Smashers’ After String of ATM Heists
10th January 2025
A rash of burglaries targeting New York City bodegas has led the United Bodegas of America to offer a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the perpetrators.
The crime spree, which the NYPD attributes to a group that bodega owners have dubbed “The Midnight Smashers,” has struck 49 locations across more than two dozen precincts in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens between Sept. 19 and Dec. 26, according to authorities.
Police said the thieves have been using stolen vehicles to break into businesses and remove ATMs, among other property. One such incident, captured on video on Dec. 23, involved the group forcibly entering a commercial property at 75-10 31 Ave. in Queens and fleeing with an ATM in an unknown direction. There have been no injuries reported in the incidents.
The UBA, representing the city’s bodega owners, held a press conference on Thursday to demand stronger action.