Video shows thieves smashing into, burglarizing Chicago bakery
CHICAGO (CBS) -- We may be entering the holiday season, but the owner of a bakery in Edgewater is not in a festive spirit in the slightest.
Kate Merrill says her bakery was robbed and vandalized – right in the peak of the busy season. As CBS 2'S Jermont Terry reported Monday night, Merrill has a message for the Grinches who targeted her shop.
At 4 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, surveillance video captured five guys luring outside Edge of Sweetness bakery in Edgewater. The video shows one man pulling out a hammer and breaking the glass.
The crooks then climb in through the broken window, and start looking for cash once inside.
"They just don't care," said Merrill.
Merrill is the owner of Edge of Sweetness, located at 6034 N. Broadway at Norwood Street.
"Opened seven years ago, Merrill said. "It was really about community space – just bring great baked goods to our community."
Merrill enjoys serving up treats. But there was nothing sweet about the burglary that left her shop in shambles.
"Nobody deserves to be treated like this," she said.
As seen on surveillance video, the thieves – with no luck at the register – took the same hammer they used to smash their way into the shop and busted a hole into Merrill's office door.
"Stuck their hand in and unlocked it, and rummaged through," Merrill said.
In Merrill's office, they ransacked files – before finding a safe and getting away with some cash.
"People think everyone has all this money in the world. No," said Merrill, "I struggle to pay my bills."
And the thieves just didn't break into Merrill's bakery. On that same morning they went across the street and hit up three more businesses - also breaking glass and looking for goods.
"Four businesses - the amount of damage they did - and what did they get?" Merrill said.
The break-in was hard enough unto itself. But three days before the vandalism, Merrill dealt with a much bigger loss.
"My mom passed away," she said.
Merrill's sudden death left a void, and she wasn't in the mood to complete customers' pre-Thanksgiving orders. Then, the crooks broke in.
But with all Merrill was going through, her customers did not go without.
"I wasn't going to ruin all of their holidays; all of their plans. They ordered something from me," she said. "I said I would do it, so I did it."
Merrill said that applies even through tough times.
Merrill admits after all she has endured in the past week, baking treats is the last thing on her mind. But she refuses to concede victory to crooks who are still out there.
And she's not going anywhere.
"I wouldn't go anywhere else but Edgewater," Merrill said.