“Smash-and-grab” thieves reportedly stole more than $1 million in watches from a high-end car dealership in Chicago, the latest in a growing nationwide trend of organized thefts.
Security video shows two men walking into the Gold Coast Exotic Motor Cars dealership Saturday afternoon, wearing masks and hoods. One stood at the door, apparently drawing a gun with his left hand, while another walked up to a display, pulled out a hammer, smashed the display case, and stuffed eight watches into a bag. The two crooks were out of the store in less than 20 seconds.
Staff members chased the two thieves for several blocks, but lost them eventually as they split up, the staffers told ABC 7 Chicago.
Dealership owner Joe Perillo expressed relief that no one was injured, including the robbers. “He was smart enough not to raise the gun, because my people had guns,” Perillo told Fox 32. “If he raised that gun, he would have been shot, we’d probably be in court defending ourselves.”
“We’re here to run a legitimate business, not be a western shootout,” he told ABC 7.
“I have little kids. I don’t want to get shot here,” said Joe Abbas, the dealership’s co-owner. His children were visiting him during work, Perillo told Fox News on Monday.
Fox 32 reports that the dealership has since locked its doors, even during working hours, and serving customers by appointment only. Police are still investigating.
Perillo also expressed dismay at the crime rates in the city, which some say are exacerbated by the lenient policies of Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.
“The mayor and Kim Foxx have to take a firm stand,” he told Fox 32.
“If [criminals] get arrested, they get let go,” he told ABC 7, citing previous cases where criminals have been released without prosecution. “So how do you intend to ever solve that problem?” he asked.
“If they don’t do anything about this, they’re going to lose a lot of businesses. They lost Macy’s, they’re losing Neiman Marcus — they may lose this store,” Perillo warned of his dealership, which also sells other high-end luxury vehicles from makers like Bentley.
Perillo later told Fox News that he received numerous calls from other businesses and individuals who expressed support and agreed with his statement that “enough is enough.”
“I never realized that it has gotten to such a boiling point and there’s no one stepping out to say anything about it, and I just felt that I had to come out and say something,” Perillo said.
The robbery is another instance of the organized “smash-and-grab” retail theft that has been prevalent in California, and the San Francisco area in particular, but has since spread across the country. Cities like Minneapolis and Philadelphia have also been victimized by the thefts, in which thieves enter businesses, mostly high-end retail stores and boutiques, steal as much merchandise as possible, and leave in less than a minute.
The Windy City is also facing a broader increase in violent crime. The Daily Wire reported earlier this month that the homicide rate in Cook County, where Chicago is located, has seen over 1,000 murders, with 777 in the city itself.