Contractors targeted in Portage Park amid overnight break-ins caught on camera
CHICAGO — Thieves were caught on camera overnight, making off with thousands of dollars in equipment from a contractor in Portage Park.
It’s the latest development in a series of contracting and plumbing companies targeted in the early morning of Wednesday, March 27. In addition to being stuck with the clean-up, many business owners in the area worry that the unidentified culprits will strike again.
“It’s a little jarring to see your space invaded,” said Wayne Weinke, vice president of his family’s business, Way-Ken Contractor Supply, in Portage Park.
Surveillance video obtained by WGN News shows the moment at least three masked suspects made entry into the Way-Ken Contractor Supply warehouse by ramming a jeep with a busted back window several times against their fence and garage door.
The suspects, who appear to be in no rush, walk around the sales floor before grabbing a couple of things and moseying on over to the getaway car.
All told, the unidentified group was on the property for about 20 minutes.
Crime spree has targeted plumbing, electrical businesses for almost 2 months, CPD says
“They took two generators and two saws and it was probably about $5,000 worth of equipment,” Weinke said. “And they got into our cash box and took cash out of that.”
But Weinke’s concern isn’t so much the material things.
“It’s the efforts that we’ve gone to keep people out of the building when they’re not supposed to be in here, and they just walked all over it,” Weinke said.
About 15 minutes before the hit at Way-Ken Contractor Supply, surveillance cameras captured what appeared to be the same crew about a mile and a half away ramming a jeep with a busted back window into the garage of J Sewer & Plumbing Inc.
At one point, someone from the group even moved the camera before leaving empty-handed.
“It’s a commercial door. It’s a very heavy-duty door, so they tried from different angles and corners,” said Jesus Sinchi, owner of J Sewer & Plumbing Inc. “Thank God we got a truck in the inside of the garage so that’s probably why they stuck in there.”
North Side business targeted by thieves 3 times in less than a month
Sinchi says he’s now unable to take out the truck, which means he has to reschedule appointments and has sent two employees home.
“It was really shocking when they did—the timing of it—because most contractors are out early in the morning,” he said. “They are going to encounter someone showing up to work or a customer coming in, waiting on us to open up and they were armed.”
“One day somebody is going to get killed,” Sinchi added. “And we not waiting for that to impact all this. So we got to do something about that.”
Wayne tells me about 5-10 of their customers, who are also plumbers, told them they were hit.
Read more: Latest Chicago news headline
At this time, police say none is in custody. Area Five detectives are investigating.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
