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NORTH CENTER — Burglars smashed windows and attempted to burglarize several businesses along a busy commercial corridor in North Center and Lincoln Square early Tuesday, police said.
Between 1-2 a.m. Tuesday, at least six businesses in the 4100, 4200 and 4300 blocks of North Lincoln Avenue had their front windows or glass doors smashed, police and neighbors said.
Businesses affected include:
- Wild Goose Bar & Grill, 4265 N. Lincoln Ave.
- Gannon’s Pub, 4264 N. Lincoln Ave.
- Bad Apple, 4300 N. Lincoln Ave.
- Gil & Gil Group Corp., 4306 N. Lincoln Ave.
- Market Square, 4701 N. Lincoln Ave.
- Starbucks, 4553-4557 N. Lincoln Ave.
No injuries were reported. At some of the businesses, a cash register was missing or found on the floor, and in others police said they were unsure what was taken. A filing cabinet was found outside one business, police said.
Market Square’s owner Cenk Duman told ABC7 that thieves used a cinderblock to break the window before grabbing $200 from the store’s register.
“The most shocking part is they’re obviously kids. Like, these are kids. They’re just teenagers. They’re going out and they’re doing this,” Duman, who had surveillance footage of the incident, told ABC.
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Detectives are investigating. No one was in custody as of Tuesday. In a statement, Ald. Matt Martin (47th) pledged to reach out to the businesses that were broken into and offer help.
“I have been in close communication with the 19th Police District, which will be increasing patrols along the business corridors in North Center and Lincoln Square in response to these burglaries,” Martin wrote. “In addition, Area 3 Detectives have been canvassing the area for video footage and other evidence, and are actively working down leads.”
Elizabeth Salas, Wild Goose’s general manager, said this is the bar’s second break-in recently. Someone broke into the bar Oct. 28 and stole a bottle of Jim Beam, she said.
“It was basically the other window next to the window they smashed early Tuesday,” she said. “But at least the two burglaries we’ve had happened when we were closed and didn’t have people coming in and holding people up, which is terrifying.”
Outside of the damage to the window, nothing was reported missing in Tuesday’s incident, Salas said.
“We do have a security system that announces the police are coming, and I think it freaked them out,” she said. “All they really did to us is tear out a point-of-service screen and threw it to the floor.”
The burglaries are the latest targeting small businesses in the area. In late October, Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) advised neighbors to stay alert and avoid dark, deserted areas after reports of an armed robbery at Cardinal Wine & Spirits, 4905 N. Lincoln Ave., and an attempted armed robbery near The Diplomat Hotel, 5200 N. Lincoln Ave.
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