WICKER PARK — A local tattoo artist urges tattoo shops to be on the lookout after his equipment was stolen from a parked car in Wicker Park Friday night.
Kevin Leary, 33, had just flown back to Chicago after spending a week as a guest tattoo artist in Boston. Instead of heading straight home from the airport to drop off his luggage and backpack that carried five tattoo machines, Leary and his wife, who works in the music industry, made a stop at Subterranean, a music lounge in Wicker Park.
The pair parked their car around 10 p.m. on Leavitt Street near North Avenue, Leary said, who works as a tattoo artist at Family Tattoo, 2125 W. Belmont Ave., in Roscoe Village.
When the couple returned to their car around midnight, the rear passenger window had been shattered.
"I saw the reflection from the street lights on all the windows except for the rear passenger window and I immediately ran to the car, and my backpack was gone," Leary said.
"There was a physical, emotional shutdown," Leary said. "I travel with [my equipment] all the time and the one time I let my guard down, this happens."
His wife called the police while Leary searched in a nearby Dumpster for his backpack with equipment ranging in value from $350 to $500 per tattoo machine and a calendar with appointments scheduled into June.
Police told Leary they would do all they could to retrieve his stolen tattoo equipment, but in the meantime, Leary hopes tattoo shops and pawn shops around the city and surrounding suburbs stay alert when people stop by to try to sell tattoo equipment.
Among the stolen tattoo machines were a sea foam green liner with red pattern coils and "PHX AZ" engraved, one brass "bulldog" shader with Japanese swan print coils and "BOOKHOUSE" engraved, a yellow ''chair" frame liner, a blue patina shader with red coils and white flowers, and one brown "walker" Seth Cifferi shader with black coils, Leary said.
"Nine out of 10 times when people stop by tattoo shops trying to sell equipment, it's stolen," Leary said.
"It's a horrible feeling to have the thing you need to pay the bills taken from you," Leary said. "Someone made away with a backpack worth $2,000 in tattoo equipment."
"These are the tools of my trade, I use this equipment every day for my livelihood," Leary added. "If I were a carpenter, it's as if they stole my hammer, nails, measuring tape. I wouldn't be able to do my job."
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