The Chicago Police Department has issued a business alert for the Grand Crossing area following a series of bold burglaries targeting local businesses and their ATMs. According to a notice published on the Chicago Police Department's official website, the perpetrators executed the crimes using a similar modus operandi: chaining the front doors or shutters of establishments and yanking them open with stolen vehicles to abscond with ATMs and other valuables from the premises.
Reported incidents have taken place in July and August, pointing to a pattern of early-morning strikes; for example, on the 1700 block of East 71st Street, a burglary occurred on July 29 at 4:56 A.M., and continued with occurrences on the 2100 block of the same street on August 10 at 6:19 A.M., then the 1900 block of East 73rd Street on August 15 at 4:45 A.M., and the most recent instance on the 7400 block of South Cottage Grove on August 16 at 4:27 A.M., pointing to three to four male culprits operating in the district, as reported by the Chicago Police Department.
Furthermore, businesses with video surveillance are urged to preserve footage pertinent to any incidents, "If video surveillance is available, save and make a copy of the incident for investigating detectives," as the directive clearly states, as per the CPD.
