Train cargo thefts on the rise in Chicago, according to data
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The recent bold daylight takeover of a freight car in Chicago by throngs of thieves captured national attention for its brazen lawlessness.
From coast-to-coast authorities say pirates of the railroad are leaving a literal trail of their crimes. They've been seen accessing usually unlocked rail cars, shucking the cargo from boxes, taking the hot goods and leaving behind a literal litter-yard of cardboard. These newfangled pirates are more regularly robbing trains in metro Chicago according to those who track these crimes.
WATCH: Thieves loot train car on Chicago's West Side
Dozens of people swarmed a rail freight car last Friday in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, with more converging by the minute, as word spread that shipping boxes were there for the taking.
Chicago police charged two Chicago men with theft: 21-year-old Lemar Hollingsworth and 53-year-old Derrick Weathers, who also faces marijuana charges.
READ MORE: 2 charged in freight train looting on West Side, authorities say
"The faster we can move goods, the faster they can steal them," said Keith Lewis, Vice President of operations at Verisk CargoNet.
Lewis is a career investigator who monitors train thefts and prevention for Verisk CargoNet. He says Friday's Chicago boxcar attack appears to have been a crime of opportunity, with a neighborhood flash-mob finding unlocked train cars; seizing the moment and the merchandise.
Thefts such as this are among 174 Illinois cargo thefts so far this year, according to Verisk CargoNet, and has been increasing since 2020.
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"The trailers aren't all that difficult to break into. Typically, they're not locked, just the seal, plastic or metal seal, and they're easy to get into. Which brings us into why? Why are there no high end security locks on the trains? It's a logistical nightmare getting the locks on once the train gets delivered," Lewis told the I-Team.
He says rail shippers are also plagued by organized gangs of train thieves who develop data on schedules and which trains to hit when.
"Crews coming over from the LA area of California, driving all the way to Western Arizona and breaking in the trains," said Lewis. "Their different type of M.O. where they actually disable the train and cause it to stop, or they wait for the train to stop and then they break in to specific trailers."
