CHICAGO – Multiple North Side businesses were burglarized early Sunday morning.
Chicago police said the suspects smashed glass doors, went inside, and got away with an unknown amount of cash.
“It’s disheartening. We all feel violated,” said Jason Dohmann, owner of Platform 47.
Surveillance video captured four suspects making their way to Platform 47, a restaurant near the intersection of Leland and Damen avenues in the Ravenswood neighborhood.
“Around 4:30 a.m., my phone started getting notifications from our alarm that there were motions detections going off,” Dohmann said. “A lot of glass. I came in flip flops because I had just jumped out of bed, so I couldn’t even walk through. I had to go through the back entrance.”
CPD said the suspects also targeted the coffee shop across the street from Platform 47, smashing the glass doors to both locations.
Neighbors WGN News spoke with said they are upset to see the businesses damaged.
“Mostly I just feel bad for the merchants. I know they work really hard and it makes the neighborhood nice to have these nice shops,” Ravenswood resident Alicia Burns said. “It makes me sad they are being targeted like that.”
According to CPD, the burglaries at Platform 47 and the coffee shop across the street are part of four burglaries being investigated on the city’s North Side. The burglaries happened between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday morning.
The burglaries are being investigated separately, but they do share a lot of similarities. In all of the burglaries, the suspects broke the front glass of the business. Each crime also involved three or four suspects.
“We saw they had taken one of our registers and a terminal. They broke open our juke box, discarded it outside. We found out later they stole one of our employee’s backpacks,” Dohmann said.
According to Dohmann, these kids of crimes are costing businesses more in repairs than profits.
“Hardly anyone pays with cash anymore. No one keeps cash,” Dohmann said. “You are breaking in for quarters, and I think they may have gotten away with two-three dollars. Just a headache, and the amount of money we are going to have to put out of pocket to deal with, it is very frustrating.”
CPD said the suspects are believed to be driving a dark-colored vehicle, perhaps a Kia Soul.
No arrests have been made and the investigations remain ongoing.