Cops bust crash-and-grab burglars that hit posh Chicago shops

Aamer Madhani | USA TODAY

CHICAGO -- Chicago Police announced on Tuesday that they have made four arrests and are looking for other suspects in a crash-and-grab burglary ring that's terrorized posh retailers in the city's Magnificent Mile shopping district as well as other upscale retailers throughout the Chicagoland area

Police say the burglary ring is responsible for stealing more than $2 million in high-end goods and causing more than $500,000 in damage to Chicago area stores.

Police believe the ring, which called themselves the Money on Emerald, is responsible for at least 40 burglaries of high-end retailers in Chicago and the nearby suburbs of Oak Brook, Northbrook and Aurora.

Investigators say they are also looking to see if the crews were involved in similar robberies in other Midwest cities but declined to offer further details.

The ring has ties to the Gangster Disciple street gang and has been operating for about two years.

Their modus operandi, in recent months, has been to smash a stolen vehicle into the front of a store and quickly steal tens of thousands of dollars of items to resell on the black market. The suspects typically fled within two minutes.

"These investigations were very difficult due to the discipline and methodology used by the crews, which led to very little forensic evidence being left at the crime scenes," said Commander Eugene Roy.

The suspects found a profitable business hitting luxury retailers like Louis Vuitton, Neiman Marcus and the chic Oak Street boutique Moncler, selling their loot through pre-arranged deals with fencing operations that brought them 30 to 50 cents on the dollar for the goods, police say.

Roy said police caught a big break in December after the crew members smashed the stolen vehicle into a Neiman Marcus on Chicago's Magnificent Mile, a glitzy strip that includes Gucci and Giorgio Armani outlets. Their vehicle got wedged into the storefront.

"We believed there were a total of nine offenders involved in this particular incident," Roy said. "Two of them were trapped in the car. The other seven saw that car was stuck and fled the scene, leaving the two behind. Those two offenders attempted to hide in a nearby garbage dumpster but were seen by witnesses and were arrested."

Police say the Money on Emerald crew (M.O.E.) — their moniker is a nod to the area near 57th and Emerald Streets where members lived -- started off their heists two years ago by simply using crow bars and other hand tools to smash into store fronts. Those crimes are commonly known as smash-and-grabs.

But as businesses began hardening security measures, M.O.E. graduated to crash-and-grabs, stealing cars and smashing the vehicles into the stores to get to the goods.

Police say they have arrested and filed burglary charges against Kenneth Greene, 23; Jawon Sellers, 24, Tommie Adams, 22; and Hershel Phillips, 18. All four are from Chicago.

Arrest warrants have been issue for four others, but police said that there are most likely more assailants that they have yet to identify.

The Chicago arrests were announced after federal indictments were issued last week in Michigan against 17 people from the Detroit area accused of orchestrating smash-and-grab jewelry heists across the country.

The thieves struck stores in New York, Maryland, North Carolina, Mississippi, Nebraska and Connecticut, using sledgehammers to smash display cases and steal Rolex watches.

Police said they do not believe the Chicago and Detroit rings are connected.