By Karla Sullivan
At 4 a.m., Wednesday, December 10, the police were called to the Neiman Marcus store on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago as burglars crashed a white Dodge Grand Caravan through the Superior Street entrance of the store, according to police. The officers spotted several people running from the store, leaving the van 15 feet inside the store. Two were apprehended and currently in police custody.
Onlookers took pictures of the store front as police taped off the scene. The Grand Caravan stopped just short of the store’s escalator. Shattered glass and merchandise littered the ground around the minivan.
Almost exactly 24 hours earlier, thieves rammed a minivan through the front of a pawn shop in Marquette Park.
On Thanksgiving Day, a truck slammed through the back wall of J-Bees Clothing and Footwear; robbers able to grab high-end clothing.
The day before, a van smashed through the metal shutters and glass doors of the Cisco NYC store also in Chicago, according to police. As many as 20 thieves rushed into the store and took thousands of dollars worth of designer jeans. Surveillance video showed four people exiting the van, and 16 other people running from the outside in to ransack the store.
It was the eighth such “crash-and-grab” burglary in the Chicago area since October. Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said it’s possible a team of burglars may be to blame for the string of heists.
Similar robberies have taken place in Aurora, Oak Brook and North Brook since September, but law enforcement has not said whether any of the crimes are related.
Commercial business insurance products protect your business and employees against any losses. General liability pays losses resulting in bodily injury and property damages. Workers compensation protects the employee for time lost and for medical services. It also provides death benefits to surviving spouses or dependents.
When a business is robbed, a detailed police report is the first step describing the incident and if arrests were made. Once you notify your insurance company, they will send an adjuster to evaluate the situation.
Provide documentation of items that were damaged and make sure those are available for display as well as what is missing from stock. Have available any surveillance camera tapes and anything else that may ease the impact of filing.
If you are involved in a home robbery, it is very important to keep receipts for all of the items of value in your home and make sure your insurance covers the full cost of replacing the items, if you a looking for a no-nonsense claim. Some policies may not cover valuable items. But more companies will approve claims for stolen goods without a receipt. A police report must detail the robbery to provide a copy to the adjuster that reviews your case.
