Masked burglars used rocks and bricks to break into or attempt to break into eight businesses in Gurnee and Lindenhurst early Saturday morning amid an ongoing string of commercial burglaries in Lake County.
The burglaries or attempted burglaries occurred early Saturday morning at the Grand Mill Plaza at the southwest corner of Grand Avenue and Route 21 in Gurnee and at the Lindenhurst Center off Grand Avenue and Sand Lake Road in Lindenhurst.
Legacy Salon.spa, Gurnee Donuts, The Honey Baked Ham Company and Bubble Tea Lab at the Grand Mill Plaza were broken into at around 4 a.m. Saturday.
At the Lindenhurst Center, Domino’s Pizza, Chopstix Chinese Restaurant and Subway were broken into at around 3 a.m. Saturday, while the burglars attempted to break into Lucia’s Taqueria but were unsuccessful.
In all eight instances, the burglar or burglars threw a rock or brick to force entry through the front doors and specifically targeted cash registers.
Lindenhurst Police Chief Melinda Linas confirmed to Lake & McHenry County Scanner that detectives are investigating the four burglaries in their town.
Police from Gurnee and Lindenhurst are working together to confirm whether the burglaries in both towns are related.
“LPD’s investigator has been in contact with Gurnee PD and continues to gather all evidence to thoroughly investigate and bring justice to our business community,” Linas said.
The Gurnee Police Department has not yet released information on the four burglaries at the Grand Mill Plaza as of Monday evening, but they are expected to issue a statement on Tuesday.
Surveillance video provided by Gurnee Donuts and Bubble Tea Lab shows a masked burglar throwing a rock or brick at the front doors of the businesses, running in, and attempting to steal the cash registers.
The burglar is seen in the videos wearing a mask, hood, green gloves, blue puffy coat, gray sweatpants and black shoes.
Another suspect, who also appears to be a male, is seen wearing all black. That suspect appeared to be acting as a “lookout.”
A car, which appears to be a sedan, was also parked outside as a getaway vehicle, surveillance video shows.
Kevin Lee, who is one of the owners of Gurnee Donuts, told Lake & McHenry County Scanner that the burglar went through their cash register, but nothing of value was stolen.
“We are upset, but good,” Gurnee Donuts said on Facebook.
Dozens of people from the community showed up to buy donuts on Saturday in a show of support, with some even signing the boarded-up door with messages of encouragement.
“We had lines out the door until noon with an outpouring of support from everyone,” Lee said.
Big Ed from Big Ed’s BBQ in Waukegan also showed up to pay for customers.
“He is a great human being and thankful to have him in this community,” Lee said.
The popular donut store first opened in Gurnee in 1994 and has been a staple in the area since, even enduring through a fire that caused significant damage in 2014. They are famously known for their award-winning “ube” donuts.
“It was really awesome seeing how much the community came out to show their support this weekend,” Lee said. “From the bottom of our hearts we just want to say thank you to everyone.”
The owner of Bubble Tea Lab, who goes by Sam, told Lake & McHenry County Scanner that he was notified of the burglary by a call from his neighbor, Majestic Dental.
“This is insane,” Sam said. “It’s not possible.”
Bubble Tea Lab’s surveillance video shows the burglar throwing a rock through the front door, running in, and spending a few seconds trying to take the cash register, before quickly running out when he was unsuccessful.
A couple of floor tiles were damaged by the rock that the burglar used to break the door.
Sam said that responding Gurnee police officers helped clean up the damage.
Sam, who also owns Kyoto Ramen three doors down, said his business has never been burglarized in the three to four years they have been open.
He said that the Gurnee Police Department has been proactive in conducting checks at the businesses and notifying owners if their doors are unsecured.
In addition to Gurnee, Bubble Tea Lab has locations in Libertyville and Mundelein.
They offer around 250 selections of delicious bubble tea and a wide array of smoothies, teas, and coffees. Bubble Tea Lab is independently owned.
Libertyville was Sam’s first bubble tea store. He said he helped bring a special tiger sugar ingredient from Taiwan to bubble teas in Chicagoland, which quickly gained popularity.
Joe, who is one of the owners of Legacy Salon.spa, told Lake & McHenry County Scanner that he was surprised when he got a call in the morning of the burglary.
The burglar or burglars stole two of the salon’s cash registers, totaling about $3,000 to $4,000 dollars.
“It’s a shame,” Joe said, adding that the shopping plaza has always been a successful place where businesses come together.
Legacy Salon.spa opened in Gurnee a little over six years ago, and the salon is independently owned. Their skilled stylists offer a wide range of salon services, like haircuts, hair treatments, perms, retexturing, and nail care.
Joe has been active in the hair salon industry in Lake and Kenosha counties, helping manage The Salon Professional Academy in Kenosha.
Joe added that he is most thankful that no one was hurt in the burglaries.
“Thank God no one was hurt,” he said.
Joe appreciated the Gurnee Police Department for helping his store board up the damage.
Lake & McHenry County Scanner reached out to the managers at Honey Baked Ham, but we have not yet heard back.
It’s unclear what exactly was stolen from Honey Baked Ham, but one of their front doors was broken into.
Brian Moran, the owner of Lucia’s Taqueria at Lindenhurst Center, said his business was lucky because their door did not completely break when the burglars threw a rock at it, preventing them from entering.
Moran thanked the Lindenhurst Ace Hardware for boarding up his restaurant and the other three in the plaza for free.
Moran said he opened the Mexican restaurant about nine months ago with the goal of crafting quality and healthy food in-house, even if it costs him more to make. The kitchen uses fresh lemons, limes, oranges, and other ingredients.
The restaurant offers a host of authentic Mexican dishes, from tasty tacos, fajitas, and slow-roasted carnitas to their popular churros.
The rock that was supposedly used to try to break into Lucia’s Taqueria was left at the scene.
Management at Chopstix, Subway and Domino’s did not provide details of the burglaries to Lake & McHenry County Scanner on Sunday evening.
It’s unclear what exactly was stolen from Chopstix, Subway and Domino’s, but the front doors to all three businesses were broken into.
Saturday morning is not the only time businesses in Lake County have been burglarized in recent weeks.
On April 14, five businesses were broken into at a strip mall in the 3900 block of Washington Street on the east side of Gurnee.
The burglars in those instances also targeted cash registers.
In Waukegan, burglars used bricks to break into the front doors of numerous businesses, also targeting cash registers.
In Round Lake Beach on April 16, multiple suspects smashed the front door of Moshis Tobacco and Vape off Rollins Road and stole merchandise.
It’s unclear if and how the strings of commercial burglaries in Lake County are related to each other.
Several police agencies in the county are continuing to investigate the burglaries.