Two In Custody After Van Crashes Into Neiman Marcus On Mag Mile
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two people were in police custody early Wednesday, after a minivan plowed through the front of the Neiman Marcus store on the Magnificent Mile, in an apparent burglary attempt.
Police said officers responded to a call of a theft in progress around 4 a.m. at 737 N. Michigan Av. When they arrived, officers saw a van had crashed through the storefront on the Superior Street side of Neiman Marcus, and several males were fleeing the scene.
High-end purses and handbags were scattered on the ground outside the store. Neiman Marcus told CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez that the thieves only got away with seven handbags, but they caused a lot of damage to to a remodeling job unveiled just three weeks ago.
Marcus McNeese, who works at a nearby hotel, saw police check the alley outside Nieman Marcus, in an apparent search for the suspects, but with no luck.
He said he had a hunch as he walked back to work.
"That's when I decided to come over to the trash compactor, and looked between, and that's when I saw one of the suspects. I saw him facedown, black jeans, black jacket," he said.
A second suspect also was hiding behind the hotel, under the dumpsters.
"He probably was wedged underneath there," McNeese said.
McNeese called police over, and officers arrested the two men.
"I feel good about it," McNeese said.
Some other burglars got away, possibly using one or two getaway cars. Police reportedly followed one of those cars, but it was not immediately clear if they caught those suspects.
It was the eight such "crash-and-grab" burglary in the Chicago area since September. Police Supt. Garry McCarthy has said it's possible a team of burglars has been to blame for the string of heists.