2 in custody after Elmwood Park attempted burglary, police chase

ELMWOOD PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- Two suspects were arrested by Elmwood Park police after an attempted burglary at a sports bar Tuesday.

Police said it all started when officers responded to a silent alarm at Phil's Sports Bar on Harlem Avenue.

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Police said at about 4:49 a.m., two suspicious vehicles were seen that matched the description of those associated with a burglary in Palos Township.

Squads arrived to find three people there. When they tried to drive away, officers went after them.

Police said the driver of a stolen Alfa Romeo crashed into an Elmwood Park police car that tried to block their escape, but the Alfa Romeo got away.

Police were able to later stop the Alfa Romeo. They took the driver into custody, but two other suspects escaped on foot.

One suspect was caught in the backyard of a home in the 2200-block of Neva Avenue in Chicago. Both suspects in custody were taken to the hospital for injuries from the crash.

Someone living in the neighborhood said after the crash the suspects ran through her backyard to try to get away.

"We saw them arrest somebody here," the neighbor said. "They put somebody in the backseat of a car. They went through again in our backyard. They grabbed their ski mask and their shoes and some other things."

Chopper 7 captured the arrest of one of the men.

"There were police lights everywhere around the neighborhood," a homeowner said. "We get alerted through our phones, if there is anyone in the backyard. And that's how that happened."

The second driver of a Honda Accord was chased by police, but the car was able to escape.

There was no damage to the sports bar. The would-be burglars apparently tripped an exterior alarm and were foiled before they could do any damage.

The bar has video gaming machines.

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According to the Illinois Gaming Board, there are hundreds of video gaming burglaries every year. With millions of dollars stolen, they continue to go up.

The video gaming machines hold cash, and redemption machines contain even more money, which is why they have become hot items to steal

All parties involved are working on solutions to prevent theft.

Running a small restaurant is tough work. Making a profit is even harder, which is why Victor Sanchez decided to install video gaming machines in his Las Picosas Blue Island location three weeks ago.

"It brings in a little bit more people, more cash flow. But, I mean, at the end of the day, getting broken into every month, gotta, kind of like, put stuff in the scale. And is it even worth it?" Sanchez said.

After three weeks of installing the machines, Sanchez is weighing their worth after he woke up to a security alarm notification early Monday morning.

Using sledgehammers to break in, thieves stole the cash out of one machine. While they tried unsuccessfully for two others, they left all three machines completely damaged.

"I'm working with the town of Blue Island to install rolling shutters, or like some type of security to reinforce the place," Sanchez said.

Besides the city of Blue Island, Sanchez says he is working with the gaming machine operators on a security prevention plan. State gaming laws only require operators to split the proceeds with the establishment owner, but not pay for anything else.

"If the operator wants to put a steel door on, if the operator wants to put bars on the windows, that has to be cleared, so it's not doing something that's improper under the gaming board rules," said Donna More, with Fox Rothschild LLP.

Gaming lawyer Donna More says the industry and gaming board are working to change the rule so operators can help with the cost of prevention. She says the other preventive option is reducing the amount of cash in the games.

"The technology now is such that you can have prepaid cards; you can have reloadable cards. You can have cards that, where you put it into the redemption machine, it can put the money straight into your bank account," More said.

More says converting to reduced cash games would take action from state lawmakers. She doubts anyone would support 100% cashless wagering.

Sanchez agrees; he says people do like playing with cash.