Thieves hit 12 Geneva businesses in early morning smash-and-grab

GENEVA – From Starbucks to Red Wing Shoes, Nancy’s Pizza to Nothing Bundt Cakes, thieves embarked on a daring smash-and-grab burglary spree early Wednesday, hitting 12 businesses in the Randall Road corridor and two in Batavia, before escaping police in a stolen Kia sedan.

“We are still waiting for business owners to inventory their stores and report any items that were stolen,” Geneva Deputy Chief Brian Maduzia stated in an email. “We provide business owners with an inventory sheet, which they complete it at their own pace and return it to us.”

Batavia Dt. Sgt. Gary La Barbera said their two businesses involved were Woof Beach, 1840 Mill St. – whose front door was completely shattered – and Liquors & Tobacco, 1804 Mill St.

La Barbera could not say what color the stolen Kia was other than it was dark.

Police don’t know what, if anything, was stolen from the Batavia businesses.

A Geneva officer on patrol discovered a burglarized business at 2:22 a.m. in the 1700 block of South Randall Road, where the offenders used an object, possibly a brick or a fire extinguisher, to break out the storefront glass to get inside, according to a news release.

At the same time, police received a call regarding a suspicious vehicle in close proximity to the burglarized business.

Batavia officers on patrol in that city’s Randall Road corridor received information minutes later about the burglaries in Geneva. Then an officer saw a vehicle, later determined to be a stolen Kia sedan, speeding away from the area of Mill Street and Randall Road, according to a news release.

The driver refused to pull over for Batavia officers and Kane County Sheriff’s deputies.

Batavia police stopped their pursuit for safety reasons when vehicle speeds became unreasonable and the vehicle’s occupants began throwing things out of the Kia’s windows, the release stated.

The stolen Kia was last seen heading eastbound on Interstate 88.

Geneva Police officers later found 11 additional businesses in the surrounding area had been burglarized.

The storefront glass was broken in all 12 incidents, and the offenders grabbed as much merchandise as they could before moving on to the next store.

In an email, Maduzia provided a list of the burglarized businesses: Great Clips,1770 S. Randall Road; Starbucks, 1441 S. Randall Road; New Balance,1749 S. Randall Road; Red Wing Shoes, 1749 S. Randall Road; Jersey Mike’s, 1770 S. Randall Road; Rose Vape,1772 S. Randall Road; Los Cantaritos, 1772 S. Randall Road; Nancy’s Pizza, 1772 S. Randall Road; Games Workshop, 1052 Commons Drive; and Nothing Bundt Cakes,1086 Commons Drive.

Batavia police reported two businesses in the 1800 block of Mill Street that had damaged glass front doors with one of them completely shattered. Police don’t know if anything was stolen from those businesses, the release stated.

The burglaries are under investigation by Batavia and Geneva police. Anyone with information is encouraged to call Geneva police at 630-232-4736 or Batavia police at 630-454-2500.

The burglaries serve as an important reminder to residents to lock their car doors since stolen vehicles often are used to commit other crimes, the release stated.

People who witness suspicious activity in their neighborhood or commercial areas should call 911 immediately to report the incident. When information is conveyed to authorities promptly, police can provide a faster emergency response that may be key to solving the crime, the release stated.