Crime is a growing problem in many cities…
A luxury car dealership in downtown Chicago was the target of a brazen smash and grab robbery in broad daylight, shocking many. On the afternoon of December 11, two men entered Bentley Gold Coast, each of them wearing hoodies and masks, in a coordinated attack which went down while 0 customers, including children, were inside. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the incident, which easily could have ended tragically.
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The suspect standing by the glass doors as a lookout was armed with a gun, said Gold Coast owner Joe Petito in an interview with local media. The other took a hammer and smashed open the glass cases containing numerous luxury watches in the showroom, valued at millions of dollars.
While Petito said he had armed security in the showroom, they didn’t engage the suspects since the one man kept his gun lowered. “If he raised that gun, he would have been shot,” said Petito. “We’d probably be in court defending ourselves.”
Petito angrily called out Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx for being too lenient on criminals. Lightfoot recently criticized retailers, saying they weren’t doing enough to prevent organized heists at their stores, drawing plenty of criticism in return. When asked by a local reporter if the incident makes his consider moving his business out of Chicago, Petito replied, “it’s certainly one of my thoughts.”
Numerous cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco have been plagued by retail theft. In some attacks, flash mobs have descended on shopping areas, overwhelming security and police as they make off with armloads of stolen merchandise. Car dealerships probably have felt immune to daytime smash and grab robberies, but it seems that was a false sense of security.
Gold Coast not only sells Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bugattis Rolls-Royces, Porsches, and other high-end cars, it carries an array of luxury watches and jewels. The 11,000 square foot building also houses a service department.
Sources: Fox 32 Chicago, Fox Business
Photos credit: Instagram, YouTube
