WICKER PARK — Two men were captured on camera as they struggled for almost 30 minutes to get into a back door leading to apartments above Wicker Park's shuttered Crocodile bar this week.
The break-in occurred around 2 a.m. Tuesday at 1540 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Jeremy Simpson, the property's manager, said the men wore gloves and used what looked like an ax to smash a hole in the middle of a wooden back door. One of the men stuck his arm through the hole to open the door handle from the other side.
The door was protected by a security code, he said. But in footage provided by Simpson, the men can be seen destroying the hinge and eventually getting inside.
On Wednesday, Simpson demonstrated how the men got into the building.
Officer Christine Calace, a Chicago Police spokeswoman, said on Thursday that the incident had not yet been reported to police.
After breaking into the building, the men talk briefly. [Provided]
The building's owner, who lives out of state and asked not to be named, wanted to alert other property owners.
"I have owned that building for 30 years and never experienced anything like that. Now, we need to put on a metal door. They broke the hinges and they broke the lock," the building's owner said.
The men ended up taking some boxes that appeared to be deliveries from Amazon, according to Simpson. Another tenant said a television was stolen from his apartment.
Crocodile has been closed since mid-January. Hawryszczuk has failed to appear in court several times over battery charges alleging that he grabbed a female bartender who worked for him and kicked another employee, a security guard.