Surveillance video shows thief breaking into South Loop business

CHICAGO (WLS) -- At least four South Loop businesses were hit early Tuesday morning and surveillance video shows someone breaking into one of the buildings.

All four businesses are about a block from each other on either Cermak Road or South Michigan Avenue.

In the video, the thief, who had his face covered, used what looked like a crowbar to break out the window of the front door of the South Loop Market at 17th and Michigan Avenue.

He then ran into the store to the register where he stole a cashbox before slipping away.

"He was in and out within 10 seconds. He took about $300 of cash from the cash drawer," Samir Kanan, grocery store owner, said.

Kanan hopes that showing security video of the break-in will help lead police to the man responsible for the brazen theft at the convenience store as at least three other South Loop businesses were hit by a smash-and-grab thief overnight.

Investigators say a Currency Exchange near Cermak and Wabash was targeted. The glass of the business' front door was shattered when a burglar tried, but failed to break into the back room. That's when the thief may have crossed the street and broken into Mufflers 4 Less at 48 East Cermak Road.

"I've been in the South Loop for twenty years and this has never happened. Hopefully it will get better," Orlando Carrasco, Mufflers 4 Less, said.

Back over on Michigan Avenue, evidence technicians looked for clues after the Ms. Catwalk Boutique was ripped off of an undisclosed amount of cash left in the store register overnight.

An employee arriving to work Tuesday morning first alerted cops about the break in at Ms. Catwalk, 2311 South Michigan Avenue. She came in about 6:30 a.m. and investigators said that when the worker arrived she found that a window had been smashed and that money in the cash register left overnight was missing.

Shocked neighbors say they didn't hear anything strange.

"It's horrible, it's very sad, it's a great neighborhood so much good things happening and stuff like this is starting to take place and it's scary, it's uncomfortable that's for sure," Cathy Skortz, a neighborhood resident, said.

Although all four businesses targeted are just blocks apart from another, it's unclear if the crimes are connected.

Meanwhile, as repairs are made, Kanan vows not the let the crime ruin his business.

"There's nothing you can do about it. Just thank God that no one got hurt. It happened overnight and move on," Kanan said.

All four crimes are still under investigation. There is no one in custody and no arrests have been made.