A Calumet Park resident has been charged in connection with a series of video gambling terminal burglaries, including two in Oak Lawn.
Sincere Lanier, 22, is one of several offenders who allegedly stole from machines at Stella’s Place March 24 and Avenue Flower Shop and Wine Bar March 29, Oak Lawn police say. Police continue to investigate both burglaries, police said Wednesday.
Lanier was charged with Class 2 felonies for the two Oak Lawn burglaries, according to the Cook County circuit court filings. Additional charges were brought against him for similar offenses in Worth, Posen and Summit around the same time.
Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer previously said investigating video gambling terminal thefts was draining village resources.
“Our Police Department has been taxed here quite a bit trying to resolve these crimes,” he said during a July 28 Village Board meeting.
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The Oak Lawn and Alsip village boards voted to regulate the use of security foggers in businesses as a method to deter offenders.
Police said they responded to reports of a burglary underway at Stella’s Place, finding several people armed with sledge hammers they used to break the glass door and enter the Ridgeland Avenue gaming cafe.
Officers followed the offenders when they fled in a vehicle, but the group escaped due to their “extremely reckless driving,” according to the Oak Lawn police news release.
Police responded March 29 to a burglar alarm at Avenue Flower Shop and Wine Bar, finding several people similarly broke in with sledge hammers. In both instances, offenders damaged multiple terminals, which can contain thousands of dollars of cash at a given time, and took the money inside, police said.