BUCKTOWN — Hot Chocolate, a popular brunch spot and restaurant just steps from Churchill Park — one of four ground-level parks where folks can hop on or off The 606's Bloomingdale Trail — was burglarized early Monday.
Around 2 a.m. Monday, a worker noticed that the glass doors were smashed in at Hot Chocolate, 1747 N. Damen Ave.
The restaurant's owner, Chef Mindy Segal, put a photo on her Instagram Monday.
"What a wonderful surprise at #2am adventures #friendlyneighbirhoodcops [sic]" Segal wrote.
Officer Janel Sedevic, a Chicago Police spokeswoman, did not have the full report available around 10 a.m. Monday but confirmed the burglary happened around 2 a.m.
On Monday, a spokeswoman for Hot Chocolate said Executive Chef Amanda Barnes had left Hot Chocolate after work to have a post-shift drink down the street, and when she returned to retrieve her work bag, the doors were shattered.
"The perpetrators broke through the window (they aren't sure how) and ransacked the office, busted into a file cabinet and broke the register," the spokeswoman wrote. "Fortunately the only thing they were able to get away with was a bottle of Armagnac."
The spokeswoman added that she does not believe the incident had anything to do with tthe Pride celebration, also on Sunday.
Segal, who has been wanting to install cameras for months, will be installing cameras on Monday, the spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, Barnes said she's "relieved" and the worst thing that happened is that her dog ate the police report when she got home this morning.
Elsewhere in Bucktown, a Best Buy store was burglarized too early Monday, the Sun-Times reported.
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