Burglars smashed a Jeep SUV into a Shell Food Mart in the 6400 block of West Archer Avenue near Chicago Midway International Airport, tore out the store's ATM, ditched the Jeep at the scene and sped off in another car that was waiting nearby. No injuries were reported, and no one was in custody as of Friday.
According to CBS News, Chicago police say the burglars struck the gas station and convenience store early Friday morning, using the Jeep to breach the building before hauling away the machine. Investigators have not said which direction the suspects fled, and the amount of cash inside the stolen ATM has not been disclosed. Chicago police are continuing to investigate, and the report notes no arrests had been made.
A Familiar Playbook Across Chicago
The Archer Avenue break-in shares a two-vehicle feature with a recent Uptown case: a Jeep was used to breach a storefront, and a second vehicle was involved in the getaway.
In that Uptown case, per the Chicago Sun-Times, three people climbed through the hole the Jeep had punched in the wall, loaded the ATM into a black SUV, and fled in that SUV together with the Jeep's driver. A similar smash-and-grab hit a Shell gas station on South Damen Avenue in McKinley Park, where ABC7 Chicago reported that five people were involved in a theft around 5:17 a.m. that left the front glass door destroyed and a vehicle damaged at the scene.
A Spring Spree That Police Say Topped 25 Businesses
The tactic is not new to 2026. FOX 32 Chicago has reported that Chicago police tied at least 25 break-ins across the city to a single stretch between April 20 and May 13, with investigators describing groups of four to five masked men forcing entry by breaking windows, prying doors or crashing vehicles into storefronts. ATMs and cash registers were among the targets, and SUVs appeared in some of the incidents.
Business burglaries have also occurred in multiple Chicago neighborhoods.
Why the Problem Keeps Resurfacing
Why the Problem Keeps Resurfacing Other Chicago ATM burglaries have involved smash-and-grab break-ins. Gas stations and convenience stores have been among the businesses hit by ATM burglars.
Just weeks earlier, at least 17 North Side businesses were hit in commercial break-ins within a single overnight hour, between 1:42 a.m. and 2:37 a.m. on September 1, according to Hoodline's reporting. Whether the Archer Avenue burglary near Midway is connected to that broader pattern remains unclear, and Chicago police have not said so. For now, the investigation into the Shell Food Mart burglary continues, with the Jeep left behind at the scene.
