OPINION| Thomas: Downtown Dunkins Knocked Off

The downtown Dunkin Donuts today is open for business. During the overnight it became an all too familiar crime scene in the city of New Bedford. The glass from two entry doors smashed to allow access to the store.

According to Dunkin employees, the popular coffee shop was broken into sometime after midnight. The employees say nobody has been hurt but a cash drawer is missing. They could not say if or how much money or product is missing.

Passersby just shrugged their shoulders. The police station is right around the corner. How could this happen? These are all too familiar lines from disbelieving residents.

Upon learning of the break in, one bus driver retorted "I'm not surprised," alluding to the number of new faces he's eyeing in the city. He uttered the term sanctuary city. I reminded him, de facto sanctuary city.

For the record, there are no suspect(s) publicly identified in this case. We don't know if the crook(s) are long time residents, transients, citizens, panhandlers, legal residents or simply residing illegally in the area. We do know between suspicious fires, car vandalism and numerous shot spotter signals, senseless crime in New Bedford has as many hues as Dunkins has donuts.

Editor’s Note:   Brian Thomas is the host of Brian’s Beat on 1420 WBSM New Bedford.  He can be heard weekdays from 10am-Noon and Saturdays from 6am-9am.  The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.