Burglars broke into a Lincoln Park auto repair shop and stole five cars on Monday evening or early Tuesday, according to a Chicago police report. It’s the latest in a growing trend that has burglars taking vehicles from vehicle-related businesses.
We first told you about the fad on October 30. And the number of incidents keeps climbing.
The Lincoln Park break-in was discovered by an employee who reported to work around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday at Firestone, 909 West North Avenue, the Chicago police report said.
The burglars broke through a pane of glass on the service center garage door and shattered a key box, the report said, listing five vehicles as stolen and three others that were moved or damaged during the break-in.
On Sunday, Jessie Brown, 43, appeared in Chicago’s felony bond court on charges of aggravated auto theft after police allegedly caught him driving a 2022 Jeep stolen from Berman Motors. Prosecutors said officers also found two key fobs belonging to other Berman vehicles inside the Jeep. Video from the dealership allegedly shows him committing the burglary.
Chicago police have also been issuing alerts to warn businesses about similar break-ins. Earlier this month, detectives said three businesses were burglarized between the 5900 and 7000 blocks of North Western Avenue between 3:15 a.m. and 3:45 a.m. on November 3.
Two of those businesses were auto body shops, and the third was a car dealership, according to police records. CWBChicago also learned that two other car-related businesses were targeted around the same time that morning in the 4100 and 4200 blocks of North Western.
A separate alert from CPD identified five more thefts of vehicles from auto repair shops during business hours. The warning said the thefts happened in the early afternoon of November 2 in the 3100 block of West Irving Park and the 3000 block of West Montrose. The next day, the same crew hit three more times shortly after noon: twice in the 4900 block of North Elston and once in the 5900 block of North Northwest Highway.
Crews have also targeted parking garages, police said in yet another community alert for Streeterville residents. One incident occurred early on October 21 in the 300 block of West Superior. Then, there were five incidents in the 200 block of East Delaware early on October 27, police said.
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