People living in Dunning and surrounding areas were woken up on Sunday by what they describe as the sound of a saw. For Maria Ciaccio on West Grace Street, that was the sound of her catalytic converter being stolen from her Prius in less than a minute.
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"I was confused at first. It was very loud, so it woke us up," Ciaccio said.
Surveillance video shared exclusively with ABC7 shows the swift action of three people driving near Grace and Melvina in a black sedan around 6 a.m. before stealing the catalytic converter from the Prius. It's one of at least four reported converter thefts from Sunday morning that police said they are now investigating in the area.
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"I got up, and looked right out the window, and sure enough, they were right in front of my house, sawing at my car," Ciaccio said.
In just one to two minutes, they came away with another catalytic converter.
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Ciaccio said she even locked eyes with one of the offenders at a moment in the video before he got back into the passenger seat. She said her neighbor across the street noticed the offenders first, and tried scaring them away.
"I'm so lucky to have such awesome neighbors," Ciaccio said. "She pushed the button on her keys to make her car alarm go off, and she called 911 immediately."
In each of the incidents, neighbors said the offenders use a black sedan while wearing a mask and dark clothing. Many of them said they're shocked at just how fast it all happens.
"They really had it down," Ciaccio said. "It was very quick and affective."
The other incidents were reported near North Moody Street in Norwood Park and West Argyle in Jefferson Park, targeting Hyundais and Priuses.