Crime & Safety
Speed Queens Violated In Laundry Room Break-In
Burglars working their way through apartment complex pillaging washers and dryers, cops say.
Burglars busted their way into the laundry rooms at the Autumn Grove Apartment Complex, damaging door frames and coin machines in two separate buildings, escaping with an unknown amount of quarters.
Downers Grove police met with the manager, who discovered the break-in around 1 p.m. April 4, at 2100 Prentiss Drive at Downers Grove.
The first burglary occurred in the laundry room of a building that had previously been victimized. Police observed damage to the door frame, but the machines were left alone.
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The burglars moved on to another building where they broke into the coin boxes on two washers and two dryers.
The coin boxes appeared to have been pried open, police said. The offenders also cut the gas and water lines in order to turn the machines upside down and shake all the coins out.
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According to the report, a maintenance supervisor told police this was the fourth or fifth time that someone had broken into the laundry room.
Damage to the machines was estimated between $1,400 and $1,500.
Four other break-ins were reported in March, where someone had forced their way into the laundry rooms and robbed the machines.
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