Suburban vape shops are being targeted by burglars, and police are trying to determine if the crimes are connected.
At least six suburban stores reported break-ins since Wednesday, but police say they’re investigating others dating back to July 25.
“We’ve added extra patrols around our vape shops to try and find the suspects and discourage them as well,” said Glen Ellyn Deputy Police Chief Kurt Vavra. “Since the one we had July 25, we visited every vape shop in town and asked them to take some additional measures to protect their property.”
Most recently, police in Huntley, Grayslake and Mundelein are investigating three burglaries and one attempted burglary at vape shops in those towns that occurred early Wednesday morning. Another shop in Glen Ellyn was hit early Thursday morning; so was a shop in Bartlett.
Vavra said he’s aware of several more that happened around the time of the first Glen Ellyn vape shop burglary
State police issued an alert after Wednesday’s burglaries in Lake County.
Mundelein Police Investigations Cmdr. Rick Wilfenger said officers almost nabbed offenders during Wednesday morning’s investigation.
Wilfenger said officers were dispatched to a vape shop on the 600 block of North Lake Street just before 5:15 a.m. for an activated burglar alarm and discovered a broken glass door and evidence a burglary had occurred. An officer quickly drove to another nearby vape shop on the 1500 block of South Lake Street and saw a white sedan with no license plates speeding away from the store. The sedan was last seen headed south on Route 83.
Investigators determined burglars had attempted to break into the second Mundelein vape shop, but were unsuccessful.
Grayslake Cmdr. Chuck Foy said police already were on the lookout for the burglars after being alerted by Zion police. Foy said the burglars later attempted break-ins in Deerfield, Libertyville and Vernon Hills.
Operators of Wise Guys Vapes in Grayslake said that, on Wednesday, burglars stole more than $2,000 in cash and merchandise, smashed a television, and set off a fire extinguisher. The thieves appeared to know what they were looking for, Operators said, making off with “higher end” pipes and materials.
The Huntley Wise Guys shop also was burglarized Wednesday. Operators there said roughly $200 in cash and a $500 bong were stolen.
Hauls from the other burglaries weren’t reported.
Anyone with information about the burglaries is urged to contact police in any of the towns where the crimes occurred.
Daily Herald Staff Writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.