Police Investigating 5 Recent Business Burglaries In Lincoln Park, Lakeivew
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police are investigating five recent business burglaries within a half mile radius near the border of Lincoln Park and Lakeview.
All of the break-ins happened within the past few days and four of them happened on Monday.
Cafe Vienna general manager Joseph Abraham said his team learned Monday morning that someone had broken open their basement cabinets and stole envelopes with thousands of dollars in cash. The business is in the 2500 block of North Clark.
"You're out a lot of cash for that day and just whatever you made for the weekend," Abraham said. "Especially for small businesses, you know, that really hurts."
Abraham said someone forced their way through a back door and thieves also broke into a neighboring restaurant.
On the 600 block of W Diversey, police are investigated three other business burglaries. One of those happened Friday and another on Monday. The block is about half a mile from Cafe Vienna.
"They (the thieves) know there's a lot of small shops here," Abraham said. "And they have cash."
Lincoln Park and Lakeview are part of Chicago police district 19, where police have investigated at least one business burglary or theft from a business per day on average since the start of April.
In the past five years, the district has had the fifth most business burglaries or thefts, more than 4,600, out of the city's 24 districts.
"They're really hurting like, small people like mom and pop shops," Abraham said. "And most of them really work on a daily basis. And there's a lot of hardworking people here who depend on that."
Police said in all five recent burglaries, the thieves broke in through a back door that was either left unsecured or forced open.
