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CHICAGO -- You won’t hear this everyday: Thank goodness for these burglars.

It may have been just an accident, but four thieves may have also saved a dog’s life in Chicago's West Town neighborhood.

The four men were walking in the 1300 block of W Erie St Monday. Security footage from the Irish Nobleman Pub shows the group checking out a truck on the street. They first walk past the vehicle then return and smash a window.

The suspects took a laptop from the truck and ran off.

It turns out, it was a good thing the window was destroyed. Inside the truck was a German Shepherd baking in the scorching sun.

“If the window wasn’t broken the dog would probably be dead,” said Declan Morgan, owner of the Irish Nobleman Pub. “The dog was in the backseat. They didn’t realize the dog was in there. The windows were tinted in the back.”

Morgan didn’t see in the German Shepherd until the owner of the truck returned.

Morgan says according to cameras, the dog sat in the hot truck for 20 minutes before the four men broke the window. Morgan said it was another 40 minutes before the owner return.

Police have not commented on the incident. It’s possible it was not reported.

The bar owner says a number of cars around here have been broken into.

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