A man was killed and at least five people were injured in a traffic crash sparked by a smash-and-grab burglary at Louis Vuitton on North Michigan Avenue on Thursday morning.
A group of least nine thieves crashed a pickup truck into the Louis Vuitton boutique at 919 N. Michigan Ave. around 3:30 a.m., Chicago police said.
The group broke into the store and took items from inside before fleeing the store in other vehicles, leaving the pickup truck behind.
As five of them sped away in a Kia Stinger, they crashed into an eastbound Honda CR-V at Ohio Street and Michigan Avenue, police said.
The driver of the Honda — who was not related to the burglary crew — was taken to Northwest Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His name hasn’t been released.
The fire department initially said three males were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital while three additional males were taken to Stroger Hospital, all in serious to critical condition.
A dark-colored Ram pickup with its front doors open that had jumped the curb was still on the sidewalk near a shattered window at the Louis Vuitton shop later as several people recorded the scene.
Nearby, mangled vehicles, including a flipped-over white SUV, remained in the middle of the road at Ohio and Michigan.
Passengers in a CTA bus pulled out their phones to record as passersby appeared frustrated as their path was blocked off by police tape. One student muttered, “How am I supposed to get to class?”
Rosa Wollemburg has lived downtown for two years and woke up to the crash.
“We were sleeping and I heard a big ‘boom,’” Wollemburg said. “There’s always a lot of police here.”
Candy Carrasco, 26, and her sister were walking along Michigan Avenue and stopped to see what was going on.
“My heart falls to the ground,” said Carrasco, who has worked downtown for over two years. “This is catastrophic.”
Police said the rest of the group fled in an Infinity Q50 that lost control while traveling south on DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Four people got out of the vehicle, and officers managed to place two in custody, police said.
Stolen merchandise was found inside of the Infinity, police said.
The smash-and-grab and crash marked the latest in a string of downtown incidents over the last week.
Wednesday morning, a Brinks armored car guard shot an alleged robber who grabbed his money bag and fled in the heart of the city’s Loop.
Last Friday, six men allegedly used hammers to smash display windows at a Michigan Avenue Rolex boutique and steal more than $170,000 worth of watches.
Carrasco says the string of incidents didn’t make her feel any less safe downtown.
“I have never felt in complete danger but you definitely want to be careful,” Carrasco said. “I feel like things are just always hectic in Chicago.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.