CHICAGO (CBS) — A burglary crew was caught on camera early Friday morning smashing into a Beverly neighborhood liquor store, stealing a variety of valuable spirits and taking off.
The thieves used a number of sophisticated tactics and targeted more than one location.
Western Avenue is busy most hours of the day and night. But early Friday morning around 3 a.m., a bunch of thieves, believed to be in stolen cars, blocked off part of the street and headed into town to break into a liquor store.
In Town Armanetti Beverage Mart, 10000 S. Western Ave. the crowds on Friday evening could not make up for the enormous loss the owners had suffered overnight.
The front door was boarded up.
“It’s unusual for them to come down in this particular area because there are a lot of firefighters and police officers in this area,” said customer Bashee Brown.
But on Friday morning, a crew in three vehicles stopped at the intersection of 100th Street and Western Avenue just before 3 a.m. Several men in masks jumped out – and quickly worked to gain access to the store.
“I’m sure there’s very little traffic in this area at 3 in the morning,” Brown said. “So you know as a consumer it’s actually sad for the community.”
Surveillance footage shows the thieves blocking the southbound lanes of Western Avenue while attaching a chain to a car. They then used the vehicle to break open the security shutters.
The masked men proceeded to remove the shutters and break the glass. After that, five to six thieves started loading the expensive liquor.
“A significant amount of inventory,” said Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th), “a very high price for the owner.”
O’Shea considers the burglary daring and planned.
“They opened a store here on Western Avenue,” O’Shea said. “This lasted several minutes, but they still blocked the street and committed this terrible crime.”
It turns out the crew was busy breaking into more than just that one business in Beverly.
“According to the latest information from the Chicago Police Department, more than four businesses were affected by this crew last night,” O’Shea said. “Several members, multiple stolen cars involved and significant damage at each location.”
It was not clear late Friday how much damage crews caused to the longstanding South Side business.
“We are going to take action as a community,” the councilor said. “We’re going to come out here and we’re going to support them.”
When news of the burglary broke, customers also showed up to help the owners.
“Man, I love this area, you know, it’s sad for businesses,” Brown said.
The other liquor store location hit by the burglary crew was on Ashland Avenue. The crew then moved to the southern suburbs.
No one was in custody as of late Friday, but police have surveillance video from Western Avenue and from nearby POD cameras to help them find the perpetrators.
