Thieves steal kitchen appliances from South Side homes for sale
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thieves are targeting homes for sale in Chicago – breaking in and cleaning out the kitchen appliances.
As CBS 2's Asal Rezaei reported Tuesday, police put out a community alert after three homes were burglarized in the South Side's Greater Grand Crossing community within just a few weeks. The crew of burglars hitting each house at least once in the morning before returning at night or on another day.
The specific times and locations were as follows:
- Between midnight Thursday, Oct. 13 and 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17, in the 7100 block of South Ingleside Avenue;
- Between 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24, and 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, in the 6400 block of South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive;
- Between 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 28, and 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, in the 7200 block of South Langley Avenue.
The realtor for one of the houses said the thieves got in by breaking into a lock box. That house is now boarded up.
Police say one or more people could be a part of the burglary crew, who so far has gotten away with kitchen appliances from these properties.
One property manager in the neighborhood said they have been seeing thieves target empty homes for sale here for some time now - in some cases not only taking kitchen appliances, but also copper from pipes, air conditioners, and even hot water heaters in some cases.
The property managers say it is easy to pop open lock boxes - so they recommend buying heavy duty lock boxes, or boxes that open in the back to make it harder for thieves to break in.
Police are asking people to stay alert. So far, they don't have anyone in custody in connection to these burglaries.
Any with information should call Area One detectives at (312) 747-8384.