More than a dozen North Shore businesses were left with an expensive mess to clean up on Thursday, after burglars broke into 16 stores and restaurants in north suburban Wilmette overnight.
In downtown Wilmette, the holiday lights are already up, but before the sun came up on Thursday, business owners were calling board up companies.
Police said, in a span of less than 30 minutes early Thursday, burglars broke into 16 businesses, targeting cash, including at The Trendy Taco on Wilmette Avenue.
“We found that the windows and the door were broken,” general manager Carla Cisneros said. “All this damage for $150.”
Surveillance video from down the street shows the thieves pull up in the middle of Wilmette Avenue, and 6 to 7 guys jump out, trying to break their way into businesses on both sides of the street.
“They parked in the middle of the street and hit multiple businesses at the same time,” said Michael Clarke, owner of Pit and Tap, one of the businesses hit by the burglary crew. “There’s not much I feel like can do. I have cameras out here. I mean, I picked up all the action.”
Cameras captured the crew inside the restaurant. They went straight for the cash registers and tablets.
As quickly as they entered, they climbed back through the broken window and on to their next target.
“It’s not that a lot was taken, but the damage is really the thing,” Clarke said.
“It’s just so sad and unbelievable that you would want to do that to a small business. None of us keep that much cash,” Cisneros said.
Police said they were able to track down the SUV used in the burglaries and tried to pull it over, but the driver refused to stop and got onto the Edens Expressway.
With the help of a Chicago Police Department helicopter, officers were able to trace that vehicle to a neighborhood, where the people inside took off running. Police were able to recover the stolen vehicle, but no one was in custody Thursday night.
“You can only be in so many places, right? And obviously these people knew that as well,” Clarke said.
Customers came out to show their support to the burglarized businesses on Thursday, hoping this isn’t a long-term trend.