BUCKTOWN — A Bucktown boutique has a message for would-be thieves: Stop robbing us.
Apartment Number 9, at 1804 N. Damen Ave., was first hit by a "smash and grab" burglary last February that saw several articles of clothing stolen from the high-end boutique. Last Tuesday, there was more trouble, says the shop's manager.
"Chicago Police called me at 4:40 am on Tuesday and said that our door was damaged in an apparent attempt to break-in and that although our door was damaged, they weren't able to break it and get inside," said Apartment Number 9's manager Fatima Mohiuddin.
She decided not to file an official report but did a write a note to the would-be bad guys.
"Dear thieves, please stop robbing or attempting to rob us. We are definitely not interested, not to mention it isn't very nice," wrote Mohiuddin in a note taped to the storefront window last week.
After the Feb. 18 break in, Apartment Number 9 installed stronger glass, so that's why Mohiuddin believes the vandals could not gain entry.
Mohiuddin said that a security camera was also installed after last week's incident, so future crime incidents near the storefront will be recorded.
"WE CAN SEE YOU (smile pretty for our cameras) and PLEASE GO AWAY," the note ends.
Mohiuddi said that the February break-in was the first the boutique has had in 14 years. "This neighborhood has changed so much. Now we get a lot smash-and-grabs, along with credit card theft and people trying to pay for items with counterfeit bills," she said in February. "It just goes to who you that this is a very different neighborhood now."
Meanwhile, Neil Kraus, co-owner of Pavilion Antiques, 2055 N. Damen Ave., said that his shop suffered its first incident of vandalism in 18 years last Wednesday.
Sometime between midnight and 5 a.m. Wednesday, a vandal smashed in the window of the antique store with what looked like the head of a hammer.
Kraus discovered the hammer head inside of the store near the broken glass, though there was no wooden handle attached to the hammer top, he said.
"There was glass everywhere. Nothing appeared to have been stolen," Kraus said.
Officer Kevin Quaid, a Chicago Police spokesman, confirmed the attempted break-in at Pavilion.
"We have been here 18 years and never had a problem before. It seems crazy that now, 18 years later this happens. It seems backwards," Kraus said.
Kraus said that when Pavilion Antiques opened in 1997, there were only four or five other storefronts on Damen Avenue north of The 606 and most of the street-level storefronts were either vacant or being rented as apartments.
For those considered about crime, the Shakespeare District beat patrol officers are hosting three Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) meetings later this month.
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