From CWB Chicago: Apple Watches, TVs and laundry detergent: Chicago freight train thefts fuel $200 million national problem - CWB Chicago
Freight trains passing through Chicago have increasingly become moving targets for thieves who board railcars, sometimes while they are moving, force open shipping containers and haul away cargo ranging from large-screen televisions and laptops to air conditioners and laundry detergent.
It is a problem that has been growing, and because Chicago is a rail crossroads, it is a big problem. (Chicago does not have the larges railcar switching yard, but it has several yards, and several freight lines that converge on the region. And at times, freight trains move slowly.
The article starts with a mention of the crime from 2015, and then moves to 2 years ago.
In August 2024, Chicago police arrested four men accused of stealing 39 big-screen Roku televisions worth $12,441 from a Norfolk Southern railcar near 63rd Street and South Wentworth Avenue. According to a police report, a CPD camera operator saw the men loading the televisions into a pickup truck at a gas station next to the tracks.
There are more incidents, including one from this year.
Crime does pay in a place like Chicago, because while some people are caught, not all are.
Two guys I knew from Junior High used to rob trains all the time. The tracks ran thru their back yard and they basically just climbed on and stole what they could sell from the car carriers. They got caught several times as minors, but afaik, never stopped. They lived a few miles from where the article mentions the TV guys were stealing...
ReplyDeleteI also had a friend who was connected to some guys robbing freight cars. He had jeans once and VCRs another time.
This was in the early 1980s, so the problem has been going on for a long time.
In fact, the railroads have their own law enforcement, with a VERY sordid past. The 'bulls' were a law unto themselves and didn't care much if they murdered people, based on their tactics.
nick