THE MAD SHATTER

Marbles smash 26 sites

Bronx vandals used a novel form of ammunition — marbles — to shoot out the windows of more than two dozen businesses during a weekend crime spree, cops said Monday.

The hoodlums launched the plain and colored marbles from a white four-door sedan, firing them off by the dozens within mere seconds of each other from what cops believed was a BB or paintball gun, law-enforcement sources said.

“It sounded like a gunshot,” said Inocencia Mercedes, assistant manager at a VIM clothing store that was targeted on East Tremont Avenue.

“I got scared because the store was open,” Mercedes said. “Thank God nobody was hurt, and thank God it wasn’t busy.”

The spree occurred between 7:15 and 8:40 p.m. Sunday and caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to at least 26 stores but no injuries, according to police.

Police believe the vandals began in the eastern part of The Bronx, where they blasted the windows of several business in Throggs Neck and Schuylerville.

They shot out shop windows from 10 different NYPD precincts in all.

“All of a sudden, you hear it in one precinct, and then 10 minutes later, you hear it at the other end of The Bronx,” a law-enforcement source told The Post. “It’s crazy. It was going on all over.”

At one point, the vandals struck six businesses in less than 15 min- utes — all along East Fordham Road.

They also took out the windows of several other restaurants, supermarkets, clothing stores and bodegas in the area, police said.

Their other targets included a Walgreens, a White Castle, an Applebee’s and a Target on Hutchinson River Parkway.

They even shot out the window of an MTA bus near the corner of East Tremont Avenue and Latting Street, cops said.

“I’m worried that things like this are happening in our neighborhood,” said Josh Mojica, manager at Auto Zone on East Tremont Avenue, which was also hit during store hours.

“I care about my workers, and I don’t want anything to happen to them.”

While cops believe the marbles were shot from some sort of gun, sources said they likely won’t be sure until they catch the hooligans.

At each location, police recovered several marbles amid the piles of shattered glass.

“It’s crazy,” Mercedes said. “I hope the people get caught. It shows you’re not safe anywhere.” Additional reporting by Chris Perez