Chicago burglaries: Residents wake up to car break-ins on Cleveland in Old Town, Racine in Washington Heights

CHICAGO (WLS) — Residents in Chicago neighborhoods on the North and South sides walked out to their cars Monday, only to find smashed windows.

A string of break-ins stretched one to two blocks.

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“Very frustrating to wake up and see that, especially like right after a break on your way to work,” Tyler Lozano said.

Lozano quickly realized many of his neighbors were dealing with the same problem along the 1900-block of North Cleveland Avenue.

“As it became a little bit lighter out, too, you started to see there was about eight or nine cars that had their driver’s side windows smashed in,” Lozano said.

Lozano says both of his cars were hit. Around the corner, long-time Old Town resident Dennis Hill noticed the commotion around 3:30 a.m.

“I heard my alarm go off on my car. I looked through my window, and I happened to see a white vehicle when the alarm was going off. And then I saw it speed away through the stop sign,” Hill said.

Video from another neighbor’s security camera showed a car that matches Hill’s description, with several people door-checking and breaking into cars along North Cleveland. At one point, an apparent suspect’s legs were seen hanging out of the car, as he leaned in the driver’s side window.

“I’ve lived in this neighborhood 40-some years, and I’ve seen this happen many, many times over the years,” Hill said.

Both Hill and Lozano said the person or people who smashed their windows didn’t take anything.

On the South Side, Tamiko Qualls was waiting outside an auto glass repair shop Monday. She said her block along South Racine Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood was hit.

“Now I have to pay out of my pocket. You know, two, $300, when you took $2 worth of things out of the vehicle,” Qualls said.

While nothing valuable was stolen from her car, she says thieves did make out with a gun, taken from her neighbor’s car.

“She had hers there, and they did get it. But thank God, you know, no one got hurt or anything. But she did say she had left it in there in her vehicle,” Qualls said.

As for the break-ins on the North Side, Chicago police say it’s unknown if anything was stolen.

Residents said they’re left without much course of action, other than to have their windows repaired, and hope it doesn’t happen again.

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Chicago burglaries: Residents wake up to car break-ins on Cleveland in Old Town, Racine in Washington Heights | Video

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