Thieves crash Jeep into Balenciaga store near downtown Chicago; second store also hit

    CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Thieves drove a car into a new high-end store in the city's prime shopping district early Tuesday, and it wasn't the only store hit.

The Balenciaga store at 15 E. Oak St.—right off Rush Street and about a block east of the mouth of the Magnificent Mile—opened just this past May. It was a welcome addition with vacancy rates still up in the area.

City officials said thieves behind crash-and-grab incidents like the one at Balenciaga are getting more and more savvy.

At 5:29 a.m. Tuesday, the thieves drove red a Jeep sport-utility vehicle right into Balenciaga and cleared it out. They left the red Jeep behind, and escaped in a black Dodge Durango and a white Nissan sedan.

This was not the first time such a theft has happened in the area, but there are new concerns.

"So we think the area was under surveillance," said Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd).

Brian Hopkins, who leads the City Council Public Safety Committee, said thieves are staking out stores before moving in.

"We believe they were watching this area of Rush and Oak. We had a police officer stationed here in the overnight hours. He's been here for weeks. He's been successful in preventing these kind of attacks," Hopkins said. "Unfortunately, last night, we had an emergency situation—and we had to call him away. The minute he left this area, that's when the thieves moved in."

Burglars early Tuesday also struck right down the street at Saks Fifth Avenue, at 700 N. Michigan Ave. This was believed to be the work of a second crew—also savvy.

"Saks was hit as well," said Hopkins. "They cut a hole in the drywall from the abandoned Chicago Place mall next door to it."

Hopkins said had to abandon their chase of the burglary crew in this case because the speeds became dangerous. He believes criminals are taking advantage of restrictions on police pursuits as they plan their escapes.

"The criminals know they're not going to get caught," he said. "If we can't chase them, they're free to go."

Hopkins said the city and the Chicago Police Department need to be making plans too.

"We could've caught them, had we been allowed to pursue them. So if we're not allowed to chase them at high speeds for safety reasons—and I understand that; I think we all do—there's alternatives," said Hopkins. "There's other ways using technology where we can engage in a pursuit and catch criminals like this in the act."

The latest tally back at Balenciaga is more than 40 handbags stolen. With bags there running between $2,000 and more than $10,000, it is a major loss for more than just the one store.

Meanwhile, Hopkins said both the hits early Tuesday were clearly planned.

"We rely on the tag revenue from the Mag Mile and the Oak Street shopping district," Hopkins said.

Rob Karr leads the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. He explained why burglaries of high-end stores have serious downstream effects.

"This is probably the crime with the most victims," he said. "We shouldn't say, 'Well, you know, hat doesn't impact me because it's high end.' It does, because the sale of those high-end goods are helping fund the services—significantly fund the services—which we all rely upon."

Crimes like the ones early Tuesday are also contributing factor to the vacancy rate lingering right around 30% on the Mag Mile.

"This plays a serious consideration in who's going to invest, and where they're going to invest," Karr said.

Chicago Police as of late Tuesday were still investigating the burglaries.

Hopkins said the City Council Public Safety Committee is working on new measures to prevent crimes like this—using technology.