RPD investigates three smash-and-grabs including at Montage Music Hall

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester Police say cars intentionally drove into three businesses, including the Montage Music Hall, on Thursday morning.

RPD officers say they found a stolen Kia at the scene of the first smash-and-grab, at the Chesnut Street Plaza, when they arrived around 3:15 a.m. The Kia went partially through the building, causing damage including to the Montage Music Hall within the plaza.

Local officials have expressed concerns about thefts of Kia and Hyundai cars increasing because of how-to videos circulating on TikTok.

About 40 minutes later, officers also responded to the Plug Smoke Shop on Park Avenue after a car drove through the front door. RPD says the suspects entered the building but drove away before officers arrived.

Then, around 4:40 a.m., officers responded to a burglary alarm at H&S Motors on Whitney Street off Lyell Avenue. They learned that a car drove through the garage door. Police say the car was no longer in the area when they arrived.

RPD says the three incidents are likely related. No suspects are in custody and police are asking anyone with information to call 911.

This is the latest in a series of smash-and-grabs that have harmed businesses in Rochester, including a convenience store on Culver Road earlier this week. A car also crashed into a Mobile gas station in North Goodman in early April as the owner watched on a security camera in his bedroom window.

In late March, four businesses in the Dewey Avenue area were damaged in one morning during smash-and-grabs. At least one of those burglaries involved a stolen car according to RPD. The owner of The Lash Trap spoke out in March after the beauty salon was targeted by a smash-and-grab.