Oak Park's Avenue Parking Garage has had overnight security since Nov. 1, less than two months after about 29 cars had their windows smashed there in a single night.
The Oak Park Village Board approved a $20,722.56 amendment to its existing contract with Securitas Security Services at its Wednesday, Nov. 4, meeting, according to the Wednesday Journal. The overnight coverage began Nov. 1, according to the Nov. 4 board agenda.
The amendment passed on the consent agenda, a bundle of items the board votes on together without individual discussion.
The garage at 720 N. Blvd. previously had security personnel on-site from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., along with security cameras and overnight police patrol coverage. That left an eight-hour window without dedicated security staff.
The Sept. 11 break-ins happened during that window. About 29 cars had their windows smashed around 3 a.m., according to an Oak Park Police Department (OPPD) summary report. Officers spotted the vehicle used in the break-ins, described as a black Kia SUV reported stolen from Chicago, but it fled the scene, according to an OPPD spokesperson.
As we reported Oct. 26, the scale of the incident prompted police to warn nearby Dominican University that burglars could target River Forest next. Martin Grill, a police patrol commander, told the Dominican Star that officers alerted the university. Dominican was not targeted.
The same stolen vehicle was later linked to vehicle burglaries at the University of Illinois Chicago campus, where campus police documented multiple break-ins around 4:10 a.m. that same night, according to a UIC public safety advisory.
The OPPD investigation into the Avenue Garage break-ins was still ongoing as of Oct. 2, the most recent public update available.
The board agenda did not specify how long the new overnight security coverage will last or whether the $20,722.56 covers a set period.
