Burglars targeting video gaming terminals have struck bars and restaurants in the Park Ridge and Niles area, part of a wave of smash-and-grab break-ins hitting establishments across the northwest suburbs and beyond.

Security video at a local business captured a group of burglars approaching the front entrance before breaking in and damaging gaming machines inside, Journal & Topics columnist Todd Wessell wrote Wednesday, Aug. 26.

The crews follow a pattern documented at dozens of locations statewide this summer. Masked, gloved individuals force entry in the early morning hours, pry open cash boxes from slot-style machines, and flee within minutes. They ignore cash registers and bar areas entirely.

"And they never come into the restaurant — they don't touch the cash register or anything behind the bar," Madelyn Mullen, general manager of Hashtag 95 in Oak Lawn, told the Chicago Tribune on Aug. 24. "They go straight for the machines."

Mullen's restaurant was burglarized twice in roughly five months. Each break-in caused about $1,000 in damage from smashed front windows alone. Hashtag 95 ultimately removed all five of its gaming terminals.

Illinois operates the largest regulated video gaming network in the world, with approximately 49,000 terminals at nearly 9,000 licensed locations, according to the state's FY2027 budget document.

Incidents the Tribune documented in late August include five masked males using sledgehammers during morning rush hour at a Crete gas station on Monday, Aug. 17, and four males smashing through the front door of Dotty's in Homer Glen the same day to grab three cash boxes from six damaged machines.

Earlier that month, security video near Frankfort showed two people completing an entire break-in in less than three minutes on Aug. 6, the Tribune reported Aug. 12. Near Monee the same night, police pursued suspects north on Interstate 57 but called off the chase due to high speeds and heavy traffic.

Oak Lawn Police Chief Daniel Vittorio and Chicago Ridge Chief Anthony Layman told the Tribune that offenders are difficult to catch because they spend only minutes inside and wear masks and gloves to avoid identification on camera.

Some municipalities are fighting back. Oak Lawn's Village Board voted July 28 to legalize security foggers, devices that fill a space with dense fog within seconds of a breach. Alsip approved similar measures around the same time.

Neither Park Ridge nor Niles has announced whether it is considering fogger ordinances or other countermeasures. No on-record statement from either department about the local incidents was available as of publication.

Residents who observe suspicious activity at businesses with gaming terminals can contact Park Ridge police at 847-318-5252.