Nov. 28--The J-Bees Clothing and Footwear store is no stranger to burglaries.
Over the years, people have broken into the Austin store multiple times, said the store's manager, Muhammad Lodhi.
Burglars have come in the front door, the back door, even the roof. But when Lodhi was called to his store early Thursday, he saw a maroon pickup truck in the alley with its bed full of bricks and a huge hole in the back wall of the store.
"This one is just crazy," Lodhi said, looking at the damage. "We don't know how to secure the place anymore because if they can break the wall of concrete, I mean they can break anything."
About 4:15 a.m. Thursday, several burglars broke through the wall at 5250 W. North Ave., using the truck and stole an unknown amount of merchandise before fleeing, police said.
The crime resembles other burglaries in the Chicago area over the past several weeks, most recently Wednesday morning when thieves smashed a car into a store in West Garfield Park.
That burglary followed a similar script as Thursday's, even down to the time of the crime. About 4:15 a.m., thieves drove through metal shutters and glass doors of the Cisco Nyc store in the 4000 block of West Madison Street, police said.
The 20 thieves then rushed into the store and took what they could before fleeing. Store employees said Cisco Nyc, like J-Bees, sells brand-name street wear.
Other similar robberies have taken place in Chicago suburbs including Northbrook, Aurora and Oak Brook, although law enforcement has not said whether any of the crimes are related.
Police said early Thursday they could not say whether the burglary was related to Wednesday's theft or any others.
But the methods used were similar, said Lodhi, who had seen security camera footage of Thursday morning's burglary.
The pickup truck in the more recent heist struck the wall in the back of the store three times before breaking through, he said. Then about 15 people wearing hoodies flooded into the store, stuffed as much as they could into garbage bags and fled within minutes.
Lodhi had planned to open Thursday to try to hustle up a few sales and recoup some of the loss, but J-Bee's remained closed all day. The metal door and window covers were all rolled down.
The store could not open because the electricity, heat and water were disconnected, Lodhi said.
"This really hurt us, but we didn't want to give up," he said, standing in the freezing cold as snow fell on him. "These types of burglaries have become too easy. If a concrete wall is not protection, what is? What am I supposed to do?"
J-Bee's is located in an already struggling part of Austin and is surrounded by barber shops, hair salons and carry-out fast food restaurants.
The store has been open for about five years, Lodhi said, selling clothes from high-end brands like Lacoste, Ralph Lauren and True Religion.
Lodhi says he owns the business along with several other families. Profits support a dozen people and the store itself provides jobs for some who might not otherwise have one.
As he stood outside the property with his business partner, Syed Akhter, Lodhi said he felt overwhelmed by the destruction. The store was boarded up with plywood slabs, but it was even more vulnerable.
"It will take a lot of money to fix this," he said. "Business was already not flourishing the way it should. This is an extra headache. We are not the only ones this has happened to. Someone needs to be paying attention."
Lodhi said if he can get the utilities restored, he'd be back in business Friday. But he wondered if the wooden walls would protect his merchandise until then.
"We might have to sleep here overnight," he said.
