A group of men with a banged-up minivan are stealing ATMs and cash register funds from businesses in Lakeview, Roscoe Village, and Uptown, police say. The crew has struck at least three times since August 25, and they may have done it again on Thursday.
Police said the men are using force to open businesses’ front doors, then hauling away cash machines and any money that’s in the shop’s registers.
Detectives tied three cases to the pattern in a community alert:
- On the 2100 block of West Belmont at 3:40 a.m. August 25
- At Red Hot Ranch, 3057 North Ashland, at 2:46 a.m. August 29. The offenders tried but failed to get the restaurant’s ATM, according to a CPD report. They did get a small amount of money from the till.
- On the 800 block of West Irving Park, around 3 a.m. on August 29. A police report identified the business as Uptown Smoke Zone.
Surveillance video shows the team using an older-model, damaged gray minivan with a missing hubcap.
Patrol officers spotted the van in Uptown around 2:10 a.m. Thursday after someone damaged the storefront and took a cash register from GNS Market, 4092 North Broadway. But the vehicle got away.
In the community alert, police described the suspects only as Black males between 18- and 30-years-old.
Anyone with information about the crimes can contact Area Three detectives at 312-744-8263 regarding pattern P20-3-167.
