Thieves smash car into Melrose Park gun store, steal firearms
MELROSE PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- Some thieves in Melrose Park were so determined to steal firearms early Wednesday that they smashed a stolen car right through the front of a gun shop.
As CBS 2's Sabrina Franza reported, sources said it is not just a matter of whether guns were stolen at Suburban Sporting Goods Guns & Ammo, at 2306 W. North Ave. in Melrose Park, but how many were stolen – and not just during this specific break-in.
Neighbors and sources who work for the Village of Melrose Park said they have all witnessed thefts happen many times at the gun shop – and each and every single time in recent history, the thefts have been caught on camera.
"A car went right through the parking lot and went straight into it," said the manager of a nearby pawn shop, who did not want her name used.
Suburban Sporting Goods was locked and loaded – filled with firearms with no staff inside – when a stolen black Nissan Altima slammed into the shop at 2:42 a.m. Wednesday.
"A couple of minutes after, you see three guys running straight inside," the pawn shop manager said.
Surveillance video was captured from a pawn shop, located next door. It showed vehicle speeding off, with three people running behind.
"Two a little bit ahead, one right after – with bags," pawn shop said.
The car the suspects used to slam into the gun shop was left wedged between the glass and the curb. Sources told us the four thieves got away with at least two guns, and the shop is still counting its inventory.
"From my understanding, this is the third," a witness said.
It was the third time the witness had seen such a thing in the last year. The staff on site would not speak with us.
"I think they know that there's cameras," the witness said. "These are guys that know that have actually been here."
In 2020, CBS 2 was at the same gun shop, following the arrest of Sincere Williams. He was accused of stealing weapons from the same store.
That theft was also caught on video. Authorities said Williams smashed the glass at least 20 times before police said he took 14 guns.
Williams, then two months shy of his 18th birthday, was arrested and charged as a juvenile with burglary at the time.
Williams was then charged a year later with stabbing clerk Olga Marie Calderon to death at the Walgreens at 1372 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Wicker Park.
Police late Wednesday were still looking for the four suspects responsible for the break-in at the gun store. Police described the suspects as two adults and two juveniles.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also investigating.
State law requires a store's security plan to be approved by Illinois State Police with things like locks, exterior lighting, surveillance cameras, and other "anti-theft measures and practices" – but says nothing about penalties for stores that are broken into more than once.
