Surveillance video released by Chicago police last night shows seven people breaking into a Magnificent Mile department store and stealing armloads of purses early Monday. The burglary at Nordstorm, 55 East Grand, came shortly after a series of 911 callers reported seeing a group of people on Facebook Live saying they were going to loot stores in the area.
Police on Monday morning announced that they apprehended one suspect, 27-year-old Kendrick Adams, on the 400 block of North Wabash shortly after the break-in. Prosecutors charged him with burglary, CPD said. But seven more people remain at large, and investigators hope the store’s surveillance video will help them identify the rest of the crew.
The video shows one man throwing a brick against the store’s interior entrance and pulling a set of security gates to the floor around 1:38 a.m. He is followed into the store by a string of accomplices, many of whom leave empty-handed. But three of the burglars are seen walking out with loads of merchandise, including purses.
Anyone with information about the suspects can call CPD Detective DiVito at 312-744-8263 about case JE-196757.
“An abundance of caution”
Monday’s break-in came after an evening of unrest in suburban Minneapolis where reports said a man was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop Sunday afternoon. The trial of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis cop who’s charged with killing George Floyd last year, has also been underway in that city.
In Chicago, tensions are high as residents await the release of CPD bodyworn camera footage from the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in Little Village on March 29.
Immediately after the Nordstrom break-in, police supervisors ordered the temporary shut-down of some streets, including parts of Michigan Avenue and interstate feeder ramps . Officers reported seeing a few groups of people and suspicious vehicles scattered around the Mag Mile area after the break-in, but no further incidents were reported.
Later in the day, CPD department canceled days off for thousands of its officers beginning Tuesday. The city also moved snowplows, dump trucks, and other equipment into strategic positions around the downtown area and some neighborhoods.
Authorities have worked to create effective anti-looting plans since a night of social media-fueled burglaries, and street clashes decimated the downtown area on August 10. And they have carried out multiple dry runs of their plans, most recently on March 31 — just hours after Chicago police identified Adam Toledo’s body.