By Dee Longfellow
According to various news reports, another robbery took place at the Oak Brook Center, this time at the Burberry store.
The estimated loss at the Burberry store is $23,000 in merchandise, which was reportedly taken on Friday, Jan. 14 at about 11:30 a.m.
According to ABC Channel 7 news, three men described to be in their 20s broke in and removed the merchandise, then escaped in a black BMW with tinted windows. Oak Brook police told ABC-7 and other news outlets that patrols have been stepped up at the mall and surrounding area effective immediately due to the increased crime of late.
According to its Facebook page, the Oak Brook Police Department is actively working on what they called a “grab and run” incident at the Burberry store.
They indicated there was video surveillance which captured the suspects and the vehicle in which they fled. Oak Brook police are working with Oak Brook Center management and retail merchants “to address and reduce these incidents, including the use of technology to magnify these enforcement efforts,” the Facebook post read.
The Independent published a story in its Jan. 6 issue about a shootout that took place between two Chicago men at Oak Brook Center Dec. 23.
In November, there was a robbery at the Louis Vuitton store, where police said about $100,000 in merchandise had been taken, according to ABC-7 news.
Stores also burglarized in downtown Chicago
On Thursday, Jan. 6, the Burberry store on Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago was also burglarized for the second time.
Chicago police told ABC-7 news that at around 4:45 a.m., a group of around six burglars, two armed with guns, jimmied the doors to the store located in the 600 block of N. Michigan. The suspects reportedly entered the store and then fled in a pickup truck. It is unknown whether or not the two incidents are related.
It was reportedly the second time that same Burberry store had been burglarized in a week.
Chicago police told ABC-7 that the downtown Burberry store had been hit in a similar manner on Tuesday, Jan. 4. Five burglary suspects reportedly broke in and stole merchandise before fleeing in a white SUV.
Police said there had been another robbery at the same store in November, when four men reportedly stole handbags and injured two people as they fled.
According to ABC-7, less than 30 minutes before the Jan. 4 Burberry incident, Chicago police had been called to another store on East Walton in downtown called Moose Knuckles, which sells high-end winter coats. Again, a group of suspects reportedly pried the door open and removed the merchandise. Police said the thieves “managed to clear out all the merchandise from the first floor.”
At press time, no suspects had been taken into custody in any of the Burberry incidents.
