CHICAGO – A railroad burglary crew almost made off with 200 boxes of Apple Watches, but most of them ended up in police custody after police tracked them down along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in Archer Heights.
BNSF Railroad Police interrupted the burglary at the train yard near Pulaski and the Stevenson Expressway on Thursday around 10:45 p.m. They asked Chicago police for help after four burglars ran toward the canal.
At least three of the four burglars tried to escape by jumping into the water. But with the help of the helicopter, the Marine unit and the CPD canine officers, they ended up in handcuffs. The fourth burglar has not been found.
Police have recovered 200 boxes of Apple Watches allegedly taken from an Amazon train car. Depending on the model, those watches could have been worth more than $80,000.
Charges are pending against the three suspected burglars.
Railroad burglaries are a major problem in Chicago, but most cases go unreported. In August, four men were charged with felonies after they were allegedly caught stealing 39 Roku Smart TVs with 58-inch screens from a train car in the 6300 block of South Wentworth. According to the court, those TVs were worth $12,441.
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