A daring burglary at a Mexican restaurant in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood was caught on surveillance footage, with the thieves completing their heist in a mere two minutes.
The culprits made off with approximately $4,000 by targeting the restaurant’s ATM.
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The owner of Taqueria San Jose recounted to ABC7 her experience of watching the crime unfold live through her surveillance cameras after being alerted by the Chicago police, even as the robbery was underway.
Within just two minutes, the entire incident was over. The surveillance video reveals a dark SUV pulling up to the restaurant on the 3100 block of South Halsted Street at 5:34 a.m. By 5:35 a.m., three burglars had broken in, extracted the ATM, and wheeled it out the door. By 5:36 a.m., the ATM had been loaded into the vehicle, and the burglars had made their getaway.
Leticia Navarro, the restaurant owner, shared with ABC7 in Spanish on Sunday how a passerby called 911, prompting the police to contact her as the crime unfolded.
“I rushed to the cameras and saw them leaving,” Navarro revealed. “I was very frightened. Thank God no one was there at the time.”
Navarro said the restaurant, which closes at 2 a.m., usually still has people cleaning up until around 3:30 a.m.
“I’ve had this business for 20 years, here in Bridgeport,” said Navarro said, whose restaurant is just steps from CPD’s District 9.
The theft happened a day after CPD put out an alert in response to two other recent ATM thefts in the 9th District, including one at the Shell gas station at 35th and Damen just Saturday.
While the vehicle and the number of people involved appears to differ, like the crime Sunday morning, the thieves all struck in the 5 a.m. hour.
Chicago police have not said if they believe this latest ATM theft is connected to the one on Saturday. The investigation is still ongoing.
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