Police say K-9 sniffs out suspect in Savin Hill smash and grab

Boston Police report a burglar in search of ciggies and scratchies might have evaded them this morning if not for the keen snout of Duke the K-9 hound.

Police say officers responding to an alarm at the Pleasant View Market on Savin Hill Avenue at Pleasant St. around 5 a.m. found "a large amount of glass on the ground mixed with loose coins" along with a man who decided flight was better than fight and ran from them.

The officer pursued the suspect but lost sight of him near 29 Savin Hill Avenue at which time additional units began to set a perimeter in the immediate area while a BPD K-9 Unit responded. BPD K-9 ‘Duke’ quickly arrived on scene with his handler and began to canvass the area. Duke soon located the suspect hiding underneath a delivery van parked in the rear of 1111 Dorchester Avenue. The suspect was then placed in custody without further incident and transported back to the station. Officers recovered an unopened pack of cigarettes and an unscratched Mass Lottery scratch ticket underneath the van along with other evidence connected to the incident. During the booking process, officers seized seven additional packs of cigarettes, two more scratch tickets and nearly fifty dollars in loose change with shattered glass mixed in with it.

Willie Jenkins, 50, was charged with, among other things, breaking and entering, larceny and destruction of property, police say.