Three West Town, Near West Side bars hit with break-ins within less than one hour
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Three bars in the Near West Side and West Town areas were subjected to brazen break-ins within less than an hour early Tuesday morning this week.
As CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reported Wednesday, the owners call such crime "the cost of doing business in this neighborhood.
It was not yet clear late Wednesday if all three break-ins were connected.
Some of the owners are worried about why small businesses are being targeted.
At Tuman's Tap and Grill, at 2159 W. Chicago Ave. in Ukrainian Village, someone shattered the glass door of the business. Nothing was taken.
The Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland Ave., was hit with the second break-in in as many weeks. The suspects took empty cash registers in the second break-in.
Surveillance video from outside the Irish Nobleman Pub, at 1367 W. Erie St., shows someone walking up to the bar with a brick and breaking a window before climbing in.
Cameras inside show the suspect with a mask and a flashlight.
The bar owners were out of town at the time, but got an alert that the alarm at the bar was going off.
"We got a call from the alarm company saying the motions sensors were going off; the doors were opening," said Irish Nobleman owner Declan Morgan. "We immediately told them to call the police."
Owner Declan Morgan and his wife, Candace, immediately opened their surveillance app. Video shows the suspect searching through every room of the Irish Nobleman with a flashlight.
Then, Candace is heard yelling at the suspect through their camera's two-way audio feature: "Hey, what you think you're doing?"
That scared the suspect off.
"She saw him walking behind the bar, going to the cash register, and shouted at him, 'There's no money in the cash register – get out of there,'" said Irish Nobleman owner Declan Morgan, "and he just panicked, and ran out, and jumped out the window."
The suspect immediately took off onto Erie Street – leaving with nothing. But the bar is now left with a big bill to fix the mess he made.
"It's scary, because you come in here – you know, we're a small business trying to, you know, stay open – and they come in here," Morgan said. "There's other bars we know they get in - they ransack them."
The Irish Nobleman is located in the West Town community area - which also includes Ukrainian Village, East Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park, Noble Square, River West, and the park of Humboldt Park.
CBS 2 data show West Town has seen the most burglaries this year, with 110. Restaurants were hit the most.
The Irish Nobleman was able to repair its window quickly to get back up and running – they say for the neighborhood. But at Tuman's and the Cobra Lounge, the doors remained boarded up late Wednesday.
"What are they looking for?" said Morgan.
For Morgan, he wonders why small businesses are becoming targets. He is hoping city leaders and the community will lean in to help.
"Support your local neighborhood bar," Morgan said. "You know, we're a dying breed in these neighborhoods."
The suspect was caught on two surveillance videos. The owners believe it could be the same person behind all three break-ins.
While it remained unclear late Wednesday if all the break-ins were connected, police are investigating.