Burglars hit no fewer than four businesses on 95th Street in Chicago's Beverly, Washington Heights, and Roseland neighborhoods early Wednesday morning.
All of the burglaries happened in a span of 30 minutes.
Thieves hit Legacy Cutz Barbershop at 332-334 E. 95th St. at Calumet Avenue. They broke the front glass door to get inside, grabbed equipment, and ran from the scene.
Owner Johnnie Akons said he got the call about the crime around 3:30 a.m. His alarm alerted him that someone had entered his shop through a smashed front door.
"I would've said naw, I don't think that'll happen at our shop. We've been there for a while, like five years at that location and we never had any problems ... it was really shocking," Akons said. "We have it hard enough with the things that going on keeping our business running, for people to break into them."
Legacy Cutz was one of the four businesses that were targeted on Wednesday morning.
Workers at the Glow³ MedSpa, at 1306 W. 95th St. near Throop Street, were also left to clean up Wednesday morning after thieves broke the front window to get in.
They grabbed electronics and ran away from the scene.
Police had information about another burglary a few blocks away at JoJo The Balloon and Flower Lady, at 1116 W. 95th St., right off Vincennes Avenue. Police said at 3:39 a.m., a burglar broke the front glass window, took a cash box and money, and ran away.
Three people also broke the front door at a business at the K.A.M. Alliance mental health and substance abuse treatment clinic, at 2215 W. 95th St. near Leavitt Street. The burglars got inside, but did not appear to have taken anything.
"The same individuals that are targeting these businesses. It's not beneath them to target an individual as well. They're opportunist," said former Chicago police first superintendent Anthony Riccio, who is now the director of public safety at Monterrey Security.
He points out how important it is for businesses to have layers of security, starting with bright lighting after hours. It can keep thieves away. If they do break in, it helps to have better surveillance images.
"They have these rooms now where they analyze the video that they've recovered. There's comparisons made between all these cases," Riccio said.
Police haven't said if one crew is behind the burglaries, but Akons hopes other businesses can survive until the crime is under control — because he's staying put.
"Just because a few people do something silly like this, that don't mean the whole city is like that," he said.
