SOUTH END, BOSTON — A brazen daylight robbery rattled Massachusetts Avenue on Thursday when a thief snatched $1000 from a victim and bolted straight toward Boston’s drug zone.

The incident unfolded just before noon outside 656 Mass Ave near Washington Street. Witnesses say the suspect took the cash and sprinted toward the infamous Mass and Cass corridor — the very area City Hall insists it has “under control.”

For South End residents, it’s another reminder that Boston’s summer crime wave shows no signs of slowing. Instead of safer streets, Wu’s Boston is seeing criminals striking in broad daylight and vanishing into the city’s most lawless strip.

Police are investigating, but for locals the damage is already done: even a midday walk can now end with thieves running off into the drug zone with your cash.