Thieves use car to rip off security gate from Bridgeport corner store, try to steal ATM

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Thieves used a car to rip a security gate of the front of a store in Bridgeport before trying to steal the ATM inside. The owner said it's the fourth time he's been targeted.

It takes just over a minute from the time the three burglars exit their vehicle to the moment a fourth behind the wheel pulls the security gate from the Wally's Lucky Mart door frame. But the brazen act is no longer a surprise to the owner, who did not want to be named or shown.

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"We're saying to do from now on, leave the doors open maybe. It's cheaper that way," he said.

The thieves arrived around 5:30 a.m. Thursday with a black GMC Denali. After hooking up chains to the security gate, the burglars only needed one pull to get in. The next step was supposed to be easier: break the front door glass and make entry.

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But the heist was interrupted by a neighbor who's a retired police officer.

"He came out, I believe, with a flashlight, and they saw him, and they ran back in their pickup and took off. A stolen pickup," the owner said.

About three hours earlier, what appears to be the same crew found success elsewhere, stealing the ATM from a gas station near 76th and Chicago and loading it into the back of that GMC pickup.

READ MORE: Burglars use chain, truck to rip gate off of South Side gas station, steal ATM, video shows

This time of crime has become a near daily occurrence. More than 20 similar South Side break-ins targeting ATMs have been reported by police just in August.

"They know they can get away with it," the owner of Wally's said.

That owner emptied his ATM, but is now planning to get rid of it altogether. He's also thinking about leaving Chicago, and the entire area, after 20 years in business.

"Definitely thinking of getting out, not just Chicago. In the entire county," he said.

Wally's owner said he's grateful for the actions of that neighbor who wasn't hurt, but fears it's a matter of time before someone is injured or killed in these crimes.