Four Chicago restaurants burglarized within minutes; 'Wasn't worth it'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Four restaurants were burglarized in a matter of minutes.
In each case, the suspects used a tool to break in and steal cash. CBS 2's Shardaa Gray spoke with one business owner whose cameras caught the thieves in the act.
"This whole thing bent."
Jeet Singh, the owner of Basant Modern Indian, is left with significant damage to his restaurant after burglars terrorized his business.
"Even though there was no cash taken out, we still have significant costs that we have to fix things. Three broken doors, broken computers, and time just to put things back together."
The burglar was caught all on camera when one person shatters the front window and four to five people walk in. Singh is one of four businesses that were burglarized in a matter of 30 minutes.
Chicago police say the first burglary happened in Basant just before 4:00 Sunday morning. About 10 minutes later, the suspects hit Rojo Gusano in North Center.
With no time to spare, Spacca Napoli Pizzeria was hit. About five minutes later, a restaurant in Lakeview was burglarized.
Singh said shutting down for a day is not an option for him.
"There are people who depend on wages to go back home and make that. You just have to figure out how to come back into operation."
Police said the suspects used a pry tool to break the front window, go inside and take the cash from the cash register, as well as alcohol, and leave. Singh said this is the second time his business has been burglarized in two months.
"First time it happened we used to have cash. After that, we stopped accepting any cash. It just wasn't worth it."
Singh said the last time suspects broke in, they pried open his front door.
"We will take precautions so we can kind of save us from happening again, whatever we can do. We installed some additional security last time. It didn't work, So we'll just go back and see what else we can do."
In the separate robberies, the suspects are described as being from one to five people wearing face coverings and hooded sweatshirts. No one has been arrested in any of the cases.