Sixteen Wilmette businesses were burglarized or targeted in attempted break-ins during a wild 24-minute stretch overnight Wednesday into Thursday, with nine more storefronts smashed along Evanston’s Central Street around the same time. Police say a single vehicle, reportedly stolen hours earlier in Oak Forest, carried the group responsible for the Wilmette hits before its driver refused to stop for officers and bolted onto I-94.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Wilmette burglaries occurred between 3:45 a.m. and 4:09 a.m. Thursday, with nine businesses hit in the 100 block of Skokie Boulevard and seven more in the Village Center. Wilmette police said the offenders targeted cash at each establishment, a hallmark the department says fits a pattern seen in other regional burglary sprees, according to Patch.
A Chase That Ended on the Highway
Six Wilmette officers first responded at 3:47 a.m. to a possible commercial burglary on Skokie Boulevard involving up to four reported subjects, per the same Patch report. Minutes later, a witness alerted police at 4:09 a.m. to the sound of breaking glass in the Village Center, and two officers located a suspicious vehicle within blocks of the area.
Police attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop and merged onto I-94 from Lake Avenue, the outlet reports. A Chicago Police helicopter tracked the vehicle down and spotted several offenders fleeing on foot before Wilmette officers recovered the car, which is now being processed for evidence. Wilmette police said no arrests had been made as of their update, and the department’s preliminary investigation indicates a group traveling in that single vehicle was responsible for the Wilmette break-ins.
Pit & Tap Owner Describes a 90-Second Hit
Michael Clarke, who owns Pit & Tap, told the Tribune that six people emerged from a car near Wilmette and Central avenues in downtown Wilmette early Thursday. Three of them smashed through the bar’s front window, and security cameras recorded the group inside for just over 90 seconds before they fled with two cash registers and two tablets.
Clarke estimated the damage at thousands of dollars after Wilmette police contacted him at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. Pit & Tap stayed closed most of the day to board up windows and restore its payment systems, but Clarke said the bar still plans to open its Deck the Halls Christmas pop-up next week. Members of the same group appeared to break into the Cocomero frozen yogurt shop across the street, the Tribune reports.
Central Station and The Spice House Also Hit
Central Station Coffee & Tea reported its front windows shattered and a cash register stolen, and the shop said it would stay closed Thursday, though its separate location inside the Wilmette Metra station operated normal hours. The Spice House also reported being broken into overnight and said it would remain closed for the day, asking customers to check its website for updated hours. Other impacted Wilmette businesses included Panera Bread, according to the Tribune’s reporting.
Evanston’s Central Street Also Targeted
Evanston police responded to burglar alarms and broken storefront windows in the 1600 through 1900 blocks of Central Street at about 4 a.m. Thursday, the same window as the Wilmette burglaries. The count of affected Evanston businesses is disputed: Evanston police-related reporting from Patch put the number at nine, with all nine reporting glass damage, while The Record North Shore reported eight other commercial burglaries on Central Street around the same time.
Several Evanston businesses also reported thefts, including cash and a cash register, Patch reports. Affected storefronts reportedly included Mustard’s Last Stand, The Spot, Preston’s Flowers, Hewn Bakery, Pinto Thai, the Christian Science Reading Room, Custom Eyes and Bluestone, according to the Tribune. Police are still determining whether the Evanston and Wilmette burglaries are connected, and Wilmette police say they are collaborating with the Evanston Police Department and other regional law enforcement agencies on the follow-up investigation while reviewing available surveillance footage.
Part of a Wider Regional Pattern
Overnight burglary sprees hitting clusters of small businesses have become a recurring headache across the Chicago area. A separate spree on Oct. 14 saw burglars throw bricks through the windows of at least 23 businesses across Chicago’s Portage Park, Avondale, Logan Square and Wicker Park neighborhoods, according to Block Club Chicago, where Migos Fine Foods’ owner said door and display-case damage alone would top $1,000.
Evanston has also seen smaller-scale versions of this before. In a September incident reported by Evanston RoundTable, three businesses near Davis Street and Maple Avenue were burglarized around 4:40 a.m. by a group of offenders, including Bennison’s Bakery, which lost a cash register but still managed to open about an hour late. For now, Wilmette and Evanston business owners are left cleaning up broken glass and tallying losses while investigators sort out how many storefronts were actually hit and whether the two overnight sprees were run by the same crew.
