CHATHAM — A man stopped a break-in from happening at his neighbor’s home Sunday afternoon on the South Side.
Travis Johnson, 58, was home reading he when he happened to look out the window. A white truck was sitting in front of his elderly neighbor’s home in the 7900 block of South Michigan.
Johnson said he knew his neighbor was at church and he didn’t recognize the vehicle. He noticed a man walking up the front steps with a crowbar and two hammers in his hand, he said. He caught the man's attention, scaring him off.
“They had noticed that I was looking in the window so the gentleman who was in the driver’s seat beckoned him back to the truck and they drove off,” he said.
Johnson quickly ran outside to get the license plate number, but could only get a few numbers. He spotted three neighborhood watch patrol volunteers on the corner of his block and flagged them down. They arrived, but missed the truck.
Brian Garner, a 6th Ward aldermanic candidate, said police can’t be everywhere, which is why he started the volunteer group. He was notified about the attempted break-in and came over as fast as he could. For someone to try to commit that type of crime in a quiet neighborhood, in the middle of the day, shows that the neighborhood is changing, Garner said.
“Crime is getting worse over here so that was the reason I decided to start this neighborhood patrol, to try to get a handle on it. I didn’t want to wait for the election to start dealing with issues that are important right now,” he said.
While break-ins aren’t common, Johnson said this wasn’t the first time he stopped someone from entering one of his neighbor’s houses.
“I always look out the window and this is the second time we had an incident where I prevented someone from breaking in,” he said.
“I just try to watch out for everyone and prevent incidents from happening when I can, but times are changing,” Johnson said.
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