'They're Gonna Keep Doing It': Frustrated Bar And Store Owners Upset By Rash Of ATM Thefts
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Glass doors were no match for a burglary crew targeting businesses in the city and suburbs.
Several of the crimes captured on camera. CBS 2's Asal Rezaei reports from Elmwood Park where a bar owner who saw the whole thing happen.
The thieves threw an ATM out of the front window of a bar. The owner lives right upstairs. He said based on what he saw, the burglars knew what they're doing.
A crew of at least four hooded suspects, masked up and with glove were seen smashing the glass at two liquor stores, a gas station and a bar all within a couple of hours Wednesday morning.
The owner of George's Bar in Elmwood Park said he woke up to the sound of breaking glass. He asked CBS 2 not to show his face on camera.
"I yelled at them out the window. Didn't matter to them at all. They actually swore back up at me throw it in the car," said Jim of George's Bar.
The bar's surveillance video captured what he heard happening just below. A black Jeep pulls up. The suspects smashed the front window with what appears to be a crow bar. Once inside, they immediately go for the ATM knocking it over, throwing it out of the bar before loading it into the jeep and getting away.
Less than 400 feet away at A and D Liquor and Foods, the same crew appears to use the same tool to break down the door. They couldn't get away with the ATM there, but grabbed liquor off the shelves. The suspects hoodies had one with white stripes down the sleeves another with a Gap logo across the chest.
On their way out they ditch a cash register, leaving it on the sidewalk. Within the same hour, less than three miles away in Norridge, police said thieves busted the glass of a gas station on Lawrence near Cumberland with thieves taking a cash register there.
The same thing happens almost directly across the street at a liquor store. At least four suspects get out. The same suspect with the Gap hoodie, the other with the stripes on his sleeves. They smash their way into the store. No luck again with the ATM, but they grab the register and run out of the store.
Business owners are on edge that this could be the same crew that hit ATMs in Wilmette, Hyde Park and the North Side earlier this month.
"Only so much we can do if there's no ramifications for what they do. They're gonna keep doing it. You know, things have to change somewhere," Jim said.
Norridge police, along with Chicago and Elmwood Park police are all working together to catch this crew of thieves. So far no one is in custody.