In the heart of Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood, a local eatery recently fell victim to a brazen theft that left its owners grappling with more than just missing cash. The incident, which occurred at Sam’s Chicken & Ribs on Granville near Winthrop, has stirred emotions and left a sizeable repair bill in its wake.
Captured on surveillance cameras, the thief was seen forcefully entering the restaurant by kicking through a shattered glass panel. Once inside, the burglar wasted no time, swiftly making off with the cash register and damaging a computer in the process.
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Laxmi Ray, the co-owner of the establishment, expressed a mix of frustration and sadness over the break-in. “It’s kind of sad, angry. Yeah, I’m very sad,” she admitted, reflecting the distress felt by small business owners who fall prey to such crimes.
Despite the thief escaping with only a modest sum of money, the cost of the damage inflicted is estimated to run into thousands of dollars. “Very quick. Within, like, 30 seconds, he finished everything,” Ray recounted, highlighting the rapidity of the crime.
The offender stole a small amount of cash but caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
“Very quick. Within, like ,30 seconds, he finished everything,” Ray said.
The crime was one of a string of burglaries committed, police say, by a suspect seen on CTA surveillance video trying to break open a cash register on a train platform.
Police say he is wanted for at least seven business break-ins in the past month in Uptown, Edgewater, and West Rogers Park, most within half a block of a CTA Red Line station.
The first three occurred in the 1100-block of West Argyle, near the Argyle Red Line stop, where CTA cameras captured his face behind a mask.
At Sam’s Chicken & Ribs, which is also half a block from the Red Line, they have had to replace the register and repair the front door.
“It’s painful, yeah. Pain for the business, painful for the business,” Ray said.
The owners say this is the second burglary at their restaurant in about a year, and so, they have ordered a metal security gate for the business.
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