Thieves caught pulling up in U-Haul, going through mail in West Loop building entryway
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Surveillance captured two robbers getting out of a U-Haul truck outside of a West Loop building, going in, and rifling through the mail.
A resident of the building has a good idea of what the crooks were after.
As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported, parking in the West Loop can be difficult – and especially at 1 a.m. Yet when that U-Haul truck stopped and parked in a loading zone, the driver and passenger got out quickly for a huge steal.
"It does stand out like sore, sick thumb at 1:18 in the morning - a U-Haul truck," said Jeremy Cabral.
Surveillance video shows the U-Haul truck parked as two men get out and walk into a building on Jackson Boulevard just west of Morgan Street. They did not and do not live in the building – but they enter much as any resident would – except for ski masks covering their faces.
Cabral does live in the building, and sits on the HOA board. He is convinced of how the duo entered.
"You can tell that there was some type of buzz with the key - which my assumption is strong is the postal key," he said.
Once in the lobby, the thieves are seen opening the mailboxes. Cabral noted that the thieves went on to rifle through the mailboxes rapidly, while one of them making a motion with a raised hand as if to say, "Hey, I got something."
Keep in mind delivery boxes were also stacked in the lobby.
"They did not steal anything as far as the packages, but it seems like they took what was the mail," Cabral said. "So most like identity theft – and the first thing that came to my head was W-2 forms."
After stealing the pieces of mail, the masked duo rushed back outside – then jumped back into the U-Haul.
"What I'm trying to figure out is, are U-Haul trucks easy to rent?" Cabral said, "because it seems like everybody is either using or stealing or using U-Haul trucks to commit crimes."
Back in December, Chicago Police issued a community alert after a string of robberies targeting women in north lakefront neighborhoods. The victims told police the suspect jumped into a U-Haul truck as his getaway in each incident.
Police late Wednesday could not say if the same truck or the same people were involved in the West Loop incident. But Cabral is glad the thieves didn't run into residents.
"I'm very grateful no one in the building encountered them," he said. "You don't know what they have on them."
Residents did file a police report with both Chicago Police and the U.S. Postal Service. They are also sharing the surveillance video with both law enforcement agencies, but as of Wednesday night, no one was in custody.