A retail store in the West Loop is reeling after being the target of a smash-and-grab robbery for the fourth time this year.
Drake Sweeney, creative director of SVRN, a small business specializing in luxury fashion, estimated the store sustained a $50,000 to $80,000 loss in property damage and $50,000 to $100,000 in merchandise stolen after a group of thieves drove an SUV into the retail clothing store early Tuesday morning.
“They stole everything you could imagine,” Sweeney said.
The store had last been hit and robbed less than a month ago, in late November.
In the latest robbery, Chicago police say around 3:11 a.m. a group of thieves hit the security gate and front door of the store, located at 171 N. Aberdeen St., with a Jeep SUV to gain entry. They fled using several other vehicles, police said.
The store had installed concrete pillars and no-break glass as part of added security to prevent more robberies, Sweeney said. The thieves bypassed the security by using a truck to pull the concrete barricade from the store’s front before crashing the Jeep SUV into the door, Sweeney said.
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The robbery was captured on store cameras, and Sweeney said there were around eight people involved based on the footage.
Sweeney said employees boarded up the front of the store Tuesday and were focused on refurbishing to hopefully reopen later in the week.
“We want to reopen for the community and recoup mentally to the best of our ability,” Sweeney said. “But it’s getting more extreme.”
No one was in custody and police are investigating.
The tactics behind Tuesday’s robbery mirror those of recent smash-and-grabs in the West Loop, Wicker Park and the Near West Side involving cars being driven into buildings so those involved can quickly run in and take merchandise.
Last week, a failed “crash-and-grab” was attempted on Michigan Avenue at a high-end Magnificent Mile store. A ditched car could be seen early Monday morning after the attempt.
aguffey@chicagotribune.com
