Business owners in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood are picking up the shards of their shattered security after a series of brazen burglaries left them feeling violated and deeply concerned for their livelihoods. In a string of incidents potent enough to stir unease, burglars were caught on camera targeting several businesses, including a popular barbershop and tattoo parlor, leaving a trail of financial and emotional wreckage.
Early Tuesday morning at The Public Barber on Wilson Avenue, thieves breached the back door and rampaged the place, making off with barbers' tools valued at around $4,000. "Watching it you know it feels like a violation," owner Michael Stejskal confided to NBC 5, expressing his distress over the disruption imposed on his barbers' lives. "Just somebody coming into your personal space and you know not being able to do anything about it—it’s not a good feeling; it makes you sick to your stomach," he added.
But the barber shop wasn't the sole victim of this recent crime wave. A Subway restaurant near Broadway and Montrose was also struck, as surveillance footage disclosed thieves shattering their way in and absconding with the cash register. Angel Zumba, the owner and nearly three-decade Chicago resident, lamented to NBC 5 the changing landscape of safety in the community: "Like 24 years ago it was okay, but now it’s very very dangerous."
Across the street, The Tattoo Factory faced a similar ordeal. Surveillance video caught the suspects smashing the glass door and jumping the counter to snatch an iPad. "So when it’s all said and done, I’m out $4,000 dollars," the Tattoo Factory owner Paul Collurafici told NBC 5, questioning the frustratingly futile outcome of the theft given the substantial loss to his business. Furthering the distress, burglars also hit an AT&T store in the vicinity, as reported by ABC 7 Chicago.
Chicago police are investigating the surge in burglaries within the 19th district, where the affected Uptown establishments reside. The connection between the break-ins remains to be established, but the anxiety among local shop owners is palpable. As they rally to support one another during the holiday season, Stejskal's resolve remains unshaken: "Obviously we won’t let this stop us from pushing through the rest of the holiday season," he asserted to NBC 5. "Support your local small businesses and your local barber."
