Owner confronts thief who breaks into work truck in Chicago's Lakeview community
A thief was caught on camera breaking into a work truck parked on a residential street in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood, and the owner of the truck took swift action.
Late Thursday, broken glass still littered the 800 block of West Oakdale Avenue in Lakeview, in a clear reminder of the crime that happened there that morning.
"I just walked up the car to get more tools," said a heating and air conditioning worker whose van was targeted.
As the worker stepped outside on Oakdale Avenue, where his van was parked, he first noticed a broken window.
Then, he said. "I realized somebody's in my truck kind of taking out my tools."
Video shows the masked thief exiting the front seat of the van and making his way into the rear, were thousands of dollars' worth of tools were stored. A dark Audi sport-utility vehicle then pulled up.
The driver slowed down, and the thief started to load the tools into the back seat of the Audi.
Out of nowhere, the video shows the owner of the van drop-kicking the thief.
"My reaction was, what the hell is going on?" said the HVAC worker. "And you can see on the video, I had to do something."
And he did.
"That was adrenaline rush," the HVAC worker said.
That kick to the thief's chest not only made him drop the tools, but drop to the ground.
"The worst thing — I could hurt him, and I don't want to do this," the HVAC worker said.
While the first instinct was to kick the thief, the HVAC worker said once the man hit the ground, he doubted his actions. He didn't know if he had seriously injured the man, or worse, if the crew was armed.
"After I dropped him down, I didn't even hold him — because I'm a bigger guy than they are," said the van owner.
The one thief stumbled again, running away.
Many people can understand why the owner of the van reacted the way he did. But what's worse is this was not the first break-in he has suffered.
"They know what they're doing," he said, "because I had the same robbery like two months ago in the same place — exactly the same place."
And while the neighborhood is full of walkers and joggers, the HVAC worker said he believes the crew that targeted him is targeting work trucks. But he can't afford to keep losing out.
"We're talking about thousands of dollars of tools," the HVAC worker said. "If I'm going to lose my tools, I'm not going to be able to do the work."
Chicago Police responded. The HVAC worker filed a report, and his hunch was confirmed by police.
"They describe it, it happens every day," he said.
But maybe that kick to the ground was enough to make them stop.
