CHICAGO — Smash-and-grab burglary crews targeted two more businesses overnight, one in the South Loop and another in West Town, marking the third day in a row that Chicago police have responded to similar crimes.
This morning’s incidents occurred within about 20 minutes, starting at 4:13 a.m. Witnesses and a Chicago Fire Department unit reported a burglary in progress at Boneyard Chicago, a high-end sneaker boutique at 1102 North Ashland.
Three or four carloads of people were at the scene as a black Jeep rammed the front of the building. The group fled before police arrived, leaving the SUV at the scene.
Officially, CPD issued a media statement that categorized the incident as a “traffic crash” that left “minor damage to the front gate of the business” without mentioning that people were trying to break into the store.
The burglars had better luck in the South Loop about 15 minutes later. Witnesses called 911 to report a white SUV slamming into Unique Chicago, 1839 South State, around 4:31 a.m.
At least three carloads of people ran into the compromised storefront, and some were still running out with merchandise as police arrived. No arrests were made.
Around 6 a.m. Wednesday, a smash-and-grab crew drove a stolen SUV into a display window at Louis Vuitton, 919 North Michigan, on the Magnificent Mile. Cops found the Jeep used as a battering ram abandoned at the scene.
The store’s reinforced glass largely stood up to the impact, and the crew fled without entering the store, according to a CPD report. A caravan of vehicles, including a Maserati, fled the scene.
About an hour before the Louis Vuitton attempt, burglars crashed into Flee Club, a sneaker store at 2221 West Taylor. That business was successfully looted of merchandise worth $40,000.
Smash-and-grabbers struck in River North on Tuesday, too.
Witnesses reported that a burglary crew slammed a white Dodge Charger through the entrance of Little Black Dress, 750 North Franklin, around 5:50 a.m. The group backed another vehicle into the front glass at Endless Supply Sneaker Boutique next door.
Both stores were looted by the group, which fled in a pickup truck, an Infiniti, and a gray Maserati, according to a Chicago police document. A Chicago police officer responding to Tuesday’s burglaries radioed that he saw the vehicles entering the outbound Kennedy Expressway at Ontario Street.
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