Longtime fireplace technician Gerardo Lopez-Moreno wasn’t about to stand by Wednesday morning when he and his son heard their work van was getting burglarized — for the third time this month.
So when they spotted a gunman inside their van rummaging around, it was time for action: His 21-year-old son locked the burglar inside using a key fob to the van.
“I was like, ‘F – – -, not again!'” said Gerardo Lopez, Lopez-Moreno’s 21-year-old son. “F – – – this, let me try to actually stop it this time.”
The situation unfolded Wednesday about 10:40 a.m. in the 4100 block of North Greenview Avenue, where the father and son had been working inside a home. Suddenly they heard someone shouting that their van was being broken into.
They raced outside and spotted a guy still inside the van after he’d smashed the driver’s side window. That’s when Lopez locked the van.
But the burglar was able to escape by using the van’s back doors after grabbing at least a few hundred dollars’ worth of their construction batteries and other equipment.
The burglar — who Lopez saw holding a gun — jumped into a stolen black Honda Accord and raced off, according to Lopez-Moreno, who called 911.
The getaway car had been reported stolen Tuesday night in the 4000 block of North Oakley Avenue in North Center, police said.
Police chased the car, and while the exact route wasn’t made clear by police, about an hour and a half after Wednesday’s burglary, officers saw the suspected getaway vehicle crash into a building and gate in the 7100 block of South Kedvale Avenue in West Lawn.
Three people were arrested at 12:05 p.m., including a 16-year-old boy who was charged with burglary and criminal trespass to a vehicle, police said.
Charges were still pending for the two adults as of Thursday.
It’s not the first time the father and son have experienced a similar crime, said Lopez-Moreno, 50.
The same van was broken into two other times this month — once when he was working near Union Station and another time near Lake View, not far from where Wednesday’s burglary occurred.
“At this point, I feel like I have to get somebody to sit in the truck just to watch,” Lopez-Moreno said.
In at least a decade working on fireplaces throughout the city, Lopez-Moreno said he’s been robbed at least six times.
“I feel a little bit afraid because they already know the route of the van,” Lopez-Moreno said. “They can see the van and something can happen.”
Lopez urged the public to take immediate action when they see a burglary, even if they’re not the ones having their belongings taken.
“People see this happening and just go about their day,” Lopez said. “It’s why it’s so bad.”
But Lopez-Moreno warned against bystanders trying to intervene.
“Don’t try to run and stop it like my kid did,” Lopez-Moreno said. “Sometimes when you do that is when the [situation] can become more aggressive.”