7 stores in Maine Township strip mall hit by smash-and-grab burglars
Seven stores in a strip mall in Maine Township in unincorporated Cook County were burglarized overnight, after thieves smashed their windows, leaving business owners trying to pick up the pieces.
The stores were hit around 3 a.m. Thursday, and cash was taken from all seven businesses.
Surveillance video from Owais Foods, a Pakastani and Indian grocer, shows someone break-in, hop the counter, pop the register open, and fill their pockets with cash; in and out in less than a minute.
At neighboring Mexican grocery store, burglars destroyed the POS system and took about $50 in cash from a business that has only been open about a month.
"It's a small store. We're open from 9 in the morning until 9 o'clock at night," said Julieta Kroha.
A few doors down, the owner of Taqueria Los Sombreros said less than $200 was stolen.
In most of the break-ins, the repairs to the broken windows will cost more than the burglars stole from the registers.
"You get mad, but at the same time, you get upset with it. You don't know what to do, really," Kroha said.
The Cook County Sheriff's Office said, after reviewing surveillance video, they believe four people were involved in the break-ins, and they all got away in a silver Toyota sedan.
While no one was injured in these overnight burglaries, the Illinois Organized Retail Crime Association released new data that shows 1 in 7 retail crimes are violent and involve weapons or threatening behavior.
A pawn shop in the strip mall was not targeted. An employee said he believes the store's security gate prevented a break-in.
"I think having good security comes with a good reward," Rodrigo Balleza said. "I'm guessing that all the extra security we have installed. I noticed a lot of other people don't have the curtain, the iron curtain alarm systems."
As for the small businesses left to clean up the mess and foot the bill for the damage, Kroha said, "it wasn't worth it" for what the thieves ended up stealing.
"It wasn't worth it to destroy all the stores," she said.