Burglars hit multiple Chicago restaurants overnight in growing trend
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Several Chicago restaurants were burglarized Monday night into Tuesday morning – and in one case, workers were held at gunpoint.
CBS 2's Tara Molina found restaurants and bars are being targeted more and more often. She talked Tuesday with one small business owner who was left to pick up the pieces in Bucktown.
Red June Café, 2020 N. Leavitt St., has been a staple in Bucktown for 14 years now. So when the neighborhood heard they were among the restaurants hit by burglary crew overnight, they stepped up.
"No one wants to get a call at 4:30 in the morning saying your business was broken into," said Red June Café owner Kim Blackburn.
But in just a matter of hours, Blackburn went from assessing damage and cleaning shattered glass to serving the strong cup of coffee for which the neighborhood knows and loves them.
"Being a small business, I couldn't close today," Blackburn said.
Meanwhile, neighbors brought Red June Café staffers a card in the wake of the break-in.
"This is the love - the Bucktown love," said Blackburn.
"We brought a card because we love coming here," said Christine Dinunzio, a regular customer who visited the café Tuesday with her daughter, Knox.
The neighborhood made a point to surround and support the Red June Café.
"It's just a staple in our neighborhood," said Dinunzio.
Others dropped off flowers. And even a cake stand to replace the one the burglary crew broke.
"Bucktown is amazing, OK?" Blackburn said. "This neighborhood has helped me through and through for 14 years."
The burglary crew cleared out the Red June Café's cash register and stole some equipment, but their biggest hit was the damage.
Blackburn is set on staying positive.
"You crank the Christmas music, and you know, you make the best of a worst-case scenario," she said.
Unfortunately, this was also a scenario that didn't surprise Blackburn.
"I was kind of waiting for it to happen, because it happens so much," she said.
There were at least six other robberies and burglaries targeting restaurants and other businesses in Chicago between Monday afternoon and early Tuesday morning.
Sometime between 3 p.m. Monday and 6:47 a.m. Tuesday, someone broke the window of a restaurant in the 500 block of East 61st Street, and stole items from inside. Around the same time, someone also broke into another business on the same block and stole items from inside.
At 11:37 p.m. Monday, thieves hit the Wing Stop at 6160 N. Lincoln Ave. – right across the street from the Lincoln Village Shopping Center – committing not just a burglary, but an armed robbery, police said. The two robbers approached the counter, and one of them took out a gun and demanded money from the register, police said.
The clerk complied, and the robbers left in a blue sedan.
Another burglary happened at 3:23 a.m. Tuesday at the Avli Greek restaurant at 702 N. Wells St. in River North. Police said somebody broke into the front door and ransacked the restaurant. It was not clear what was taken or how much damage was caused, and police did not find anyone at the scene.
The Red June was next, at 4:48 a.m. Tuesday. Police said the burglars fled west from the scene in a black sedan.
At 5:23 a.m. Tuesday, burglars hit the Jook Sing restaurant and cocktail lounge at 1329 W. Chicago Ave. in West Town. Police discovered damage to a side window, and the owner said the burglars got away with the cash register.
At 6:10 a.m. Tuesday, a group of approximately four burglars broke the glass front door of a business in the 400 block of East 71st Street, stole several items from the store, and robbed a 41-year-old man who was inside.
We looked closer, and found restaurants and bars in Chicago are being targeted more and more often.
There have been 607 burglaries so far this year compared to 350 last year, an d105 at bars and taverns compared to 54 last year.
In the Logan Square community area, where the Red June is located, there were 24 restaurant burglaries this year compared with 13 last year. The most dramatic jump was seen in the West Town community area – which starts just to the south – with 65 restaurant burglaries this year compared with 23 last year.
Back at Red June, Blackburn was happy she was able to turn it around so quickly – with a little help from their friends.
But Red June staff, unfortunately, said they believe it will take more than neighborhood love and Christmas magic to turn the tables on the crew that hit them.
"They'll get caught, they'll get released, they'll do it again," Blackburn said.
Chicago Police said they are still investigating all the incidents. They would not say late Tuesday if they believe the same crew could be behind any of them.
