This is the third time the South Loop business has been hit in two years. The co-owner says this time thieves broke through a tall glass window, causing tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage, and it was all caught on video.
Glass shattered as four people broke into a South Loop THC cafe early Wednesday morning.
Surveillance video showed the thieves taking sledgehammers to two game machines, grabbing the cash and taking off.
Tyrone Muhummad, co-owner of Prohibition THCafe, says it was a long road to be able to open his shop there.
"I see all the glass and I see the real damage to my property and that's when it really hit you the most," Muhummad said. "As someone who served 21 years in prison, just the fact to be able to be an example to open a business on State Street is an accomplishment to me."
Chicago police said the crime happened just after 4:30 a.m. Wednesday on South State Street near East 21st Street. The thieves got away in a white car.
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Muhummad says the total damage, not including the cash stolen, is about $50,000, and it isn't the first time this has happened.
"This is unfortunately the third time our location has been vandalized or broken into in two years," Muhummad said.
Despite that, the ex-convict-turned-violence-interrupter, business owner and independent Senate candidate says he holds no ill will toward those responsible.
"I actually pray and actually forgive the young men, because in my opinion, they know not what they do," Muhummad said. "Because they are the population that I'm preventing from ending up in the situation that I was in."
Chicago police say they are investigating
Muhummad says this will not deter him. The shop will host a grand re-opening this Friday.
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