Dairy Queen, 3 Strip Mall Businesses Targeted for Burglary

Over the course of an hour on the morning of April 5, as owners or managers of four Brookfield businesses called the police to say they'd found evidence of burglary when they arrived to open up.

Three attempts, one successful, were certainly the work of the same actor or actors – they occurred in neighboring storefronts in the same Greenfield Avenue strip mall.

Another successful break-in took place at a Dairy Queen some distance away on Blue Mound Road. All four incidents shared a common thread: The burglar or burglars tried to or succeeded in prying open the side or back doors. In both instances in which entries were made, the businesses' safes were opened.

The first reported was at the Dairy Queen at 17440 Blue Mound Rd. At 9:47 a.m., the manager found the side door damaged and both safes opened. The police report did not indicate how much cash or other property, if any, was taken.

At 10:09 a.m., police were called to Back On the Rack, in the strip mall at 15060 W. Greenfield Ave., on a report of a burglary after the manager found the front door standing open, apparently the point of exit.

Some time overnight, someone had broken in by prying open the back door. Cash was stolen from both the register drawers and the safe.

Then, at 10:36 a.m. and yet again at 10:43 a.m., police at the strip mall were alerted that the rear doors of both the Sylvan Learning Center and Asian Chef had been damaged in apparent break-in attempts.

The back doors of both businesses had been damaged by a prying tool, but no entry was gained.