Exclusive surveillance video shows thief at Wicker Park restaurant amid string of burglaries

CHICAGO (WLS) -- "Quite brazen."

That's how one of the owners of Mott St in Wicker Park described burglaries that happened there four times in the last five weeks. They've all happened during the early morning hours, and it is part of a concerning trend of break-ins at multiple businesses in the area.

Exclusive surveillance video shared with ABC7 shows the burglaries that police are now warning businesses about across Wicker Park and Humboldt Park.

Employees at Mott St on North Ashland have been walking into work and finding shattered windows.

"It was happening, like, every week, pretty much on a Friday/Saturday morning, and they just kept coming weekly. That was the shock," said manager Curtis Hager.

Employees said a person wearing similar dark clothing, gloves and face covering was caught on surveillance video each time.

Police said the offender is being dropped off by another man driving a red Nissan Murano.

The latest Mott St incident happened on the morning of April 15. In surveillance video, you can see the man shuffling through an office in the back of the restaurant.

"They were looking for cash, and the last few times, we went cashless, so there was no cash in here. They just kept breaking in for no reason, then," Curtis said.

In a community alert released on Sunday, police accused the same suspects of breaking in to a grocery store on North Western Avenue and a sushi shop on North Kedzie Avenue. They left with cash or stolen merchandise.

The latest break-in happened on Saturday yesterday morning at Zoku Sushi, police said. It has created quite the headache for the businesses, and the owner of Mott St said it costs at least $1,000 to repair the damages each time.

"And, we have to do service with the window open, and it's freezing outside, so that kind of sucks," Curtis said.

Police are recommending businesses install this Armor Plast to their storefronts. That's a shield of protection that goes over the glass to prevent break-ins.

Owners at Mott St said that's a worthy investment they're now going to consider. But, in the meantime, they're hoping police can patrol the area more often to prevent this from happening.

"They aren't able to come out as fast to catch the people. Thats the only thing I can ask them for, a bit of a quicker response," Curtis said.

So, police are warning residents and businesses to be on the lookout, as no one has been arrested for any of the incidents. Mott St is hoping going cashless will keep these offenders away after coming up empty handed last time.

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