LITTLE ITALY — Surveillance video captured a thief stealing a 45-pound metal bench off a patio earlier this month in the Little Italy neighborhood on the city's Near West Side.
The video was taken outside a home in the 1400 block of Fillmore Street at 3:50 a.m. Aug. 11. A man in a baseball can can be seen walking by the home, looking back, then stepping back to open a gate. He grabs the bench from a ground-level patio, hoists it over his head and walks off.
Evan Garrett, who has owned the building since 2015, said he installed the cameras after having several packages stolen from his porch around the holidays.
He said that he did not contact police after the latest theft of the bench, which weighs about 45 pounds and retails for more than $240.
"I have [called police] multiple times in the past for stolen packages, and they just tell me to contact the shipper and get another package sent out," he said. "Not much help even when I have clear video."
Garrett's cameras caught a thief stealing a package in the middle of the day last winter as well. In that case, the man in a knit cap and black coat came up a set of stairs and stole a box from the front porch.