About 40 vehicles were broken into at a University of Illinois Chicago parking garage on Friday, according to a student estimate, with shattered windows reported and students upset about the break-ins. The break-ins struck the garage at 1100 West Harrison Street, a facility at UIC.
One student told reporters she found her car's windows shattered when she returned to the garage, according to ABC7 Chicago. Video from the scene showed the extent of the damage across the garage, and UIC students reacted with visible frustration over the break-ins, per the same report. Police are investigating the vehicle break-ins at the garage, but as of the outlet's report, officers had released no further information about how the incident unfolded or who was responsible.
A High-Traffic Hub Now a Crime Scene
The Harrison Street facility is a parking structure on Chicago's Near West Side.
The garage itself isn't aging infrastructure left unattended. Golf Construction lists a Harrison Street Parking Structure Renovation dated 08/01/2024, according to Golf Construction, the firm behind the project. That leaves open questions about how dozens of cars could be hit in the structure.
Part of a Citywide Pattern
Another Chicago vehicle-break-in incident occurred in February, when a group targeted at least 10 vehicles within minutes in a Bronzeville parking lot, a pattern Hoodline covered in Brazen Bronzeville Crew Rips Through Car Lot. Chicago also saw other vehicle break-ins, alongside a cluster of vehicle burglaries along the lakefront in mid-2025.
Citywide numbers back up the sense that vehicle crime is an outlier trend. Chicago Police Department data analyzed by The Red Line Project shows the city recorded 17,232 motor vehicle thefts in 2025, making vehicle crimes among the most frequent property offenses in Chicago. And while overall violent crime dropped in 2025, motor vehicle theft rose by 8 percent in 2026 compared with 2025 through August 23, according to Newsweek.
Not the Garage's First Scare
Parking structure safety remains a concern for the university community.
What Charges Could Look Like
The reported vehicle break-ins at the Harrison Street garage remain under investigation.
Resources Available to Students
UIC does offer safety tools aimed at protecting students on and around campus lots. The university's UIC SAFE mobile app includes direct chat access to UIC Police dispatchers, a Virtual Friend Walk tracking feature, and anonymous tip reporting, according to information on the Google Play Store. UIC Police also offer a Virtual Escort.
Whether Friday's break-ins will appear in future campus crime disclosures, and whether investigators recover any security footage from the Harrison Street garage, remain to be seen as the investigation continues.
