To curb crash-and-grab robberies, Chicago should move quickly on Streeterville bollards

It’s pretty brazen as far as break-ins go: thieves ramming a vehicle into a retail storefront, then raiding the breached business for whatever merchandise can be taken.

Such thefts have been happening too often lately to high-end clothing establishments, particularly those on North Michigan Avenue and the Gold Coast. A predawn crash-and-grab Monday at a Prada store, 30 E. Oak St., resulted in a gun battle that left a police officer shot in the leg and the alleged offender seriously wounded.

City Hall and the police department have to figure out a way to curb this madness, of course.

And a good first step would be for the city’s Department of Transportation to hurry up and work with shopkeepers to install bollards in Streeterville along places such as Oak Street and Michigan Avenue — as requested by Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) — and to work with merchants in other areas to get them installed where needed.

“We think it’s something retailers will support,” Hopkins told the Sun-Times earlier this week. “It keeps happening, targeting the stores on Oak Street and Michigan Avenue. The sooner we can get these security bollards installed, the less likely it is we’re gonna have these repeat offenses targeting the same stores.”

Michigan Avenue — and elsewhere too

Bollards are deeply anchored and hardened barriers designed to keep drivers from entering the sidewalk or any other protected area with their vehicles.

Granite bollards were installed around downtown’s federal buildings following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

At the Daley Center, a mix of bollards and specially engineered granite benches are used to keep vehicles from ramming the building or its plaza.

“We have several designs of bollards that don’t look like bollards,” Hopkins said. “We’re trying to make it look like it’s just part of the decorative landscape.”

The bollards would also keep pedestrians from getting hit by drivers who run their cars into the sidewalk.

The city doesn’t seem to be against approving bollards for the Streeterville streets, which is good. And the barriers might well be funded by a special taxing district formed in 2021 to fund security improvements.

All that’s needed now is to get things rolling.

Given the retail tax revenue, jobs and prestige generated by the North Michigan Avenue and Oak Street area, providing an added measure of safety can only benefit the city.

Last month, thieves attempting an early morning crash-and-grab rammed their car into a Neiman Marcus store on the Magnificent Mile, but sped away before swiping any merchandise, police said.

Hopkins makes a good point that if nothing is done, the break-ins could cause merchants to leave, “and we can’t afford that.

“How much does it cost to constantly repair the damage to your storefront?” he said. “Even if insurance covers some of it, at some point they’re gonna stop covering it because it happens with such frequency.”

The crew responsible for the failed Neiman Marcus burglary might have also been behind eight other such crimes that occurred last October in River North, Near West Side, Gold Coast, Near South Side, Noble Square, Wicker Park and Garfield Park.

According to police, the burglars crashed their cars into storefronts, stole merchandise then high-tailed it back to an awaiting vehicle.

The relatively widespread nature of the crimes means the city must soon have sit-downs with merchants in other areas to discuss bollards.

Last fall, thieves in a stolen car rammed their way into Boneyard Chicago, a shoe store at 1102 N. Ashland Ave.

At the time, Boneyard’s owner said the establishment paid $2,500 on its own to put concrete barriers in front of the store following a previous break-in, but was told by the city to remove them.

Taking away the barriers was the right call. No one should be allowed to erect things in the public way without city approval.

But the need for some protection is there, at Boneyard and across the city. And City Hall should now actively work with merchants throughout Chicago to get secure and properly designed bollards where they are wanted — and needed.

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