New Lenox, Illinois: Burglars Damage Three Gaming Machines at Route 30 Liquors, Police Say

It’s the third business on the same stretch of West Maple Street to be hit in less than a week

NEW LENOX, Ill. — For the third time in less than a week, burglars have gone after the gaming machines at a business on New Lenox’s West Maple Street.

This time it was Route 30 Liquors, 356 W. Maple St. Early Saturday, Sept. 5, the store’s glass door was shattered and three video gaming machines inside were damaged, according to New Lenox police reports cited by Patch.

Police learned about it from a phone call just before 6:30 a.m. A witness had seen three men get into a vehicle and drive off on Route 30. With the recent burglaries in the area in mind, the witness called police to report suspicious people. Officers arrived to find the broken door and the damaged machines.

Many questions are still unanswered. Police have not said whether any cash was taken, what the three men or their vehicle looked like, or whether this break-in is tied to any others. As of Monday, Sept. 14, no arrests had been announced in the case.

Same street, same week

West Maple Street carries U.S. Route 30 through part of New Lenox. In less than a week, three businesses along it were broken into. Police have not said whether those break-ins are connected.

The first was JBD White Horse Inn, in the same block as Route 30 Liquors at 348 W. Maple St. Just before 4 a.m. Monday, Aug. 31, five men in masks broke a glass window with a sledgehammer, destroyed several gaming machines and took the cash boxes, police said. Minutes later, Joliet police were called to a Gas N’ Wash at 3000 Maple Road in Joliet, where the same suspects reportedly broke in and destroyed gaming machines.

It wasn’t the first time for White Horse Inn. Burglars also broke in there in June, but took nothing, police said.

Three days later, Tru Country Bar & Grill at 222 W. Maple St. was hit. Around 6 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, four masked, gloved suspects used a sledgehammer to get through the front door while a driver waited outside, police said. They damaged four gaming machines and took the cash boxes.

A witness told police they had seen a vehicle parked in front of the closed business, with a man who appeared to be keeping watch. By the time officers arrived, the vehicle was gone. Police Chief Micah Nuesse said the investigation is open and ongoing.

Hit more than once

Some New Lenox businesses have now been targeted twice.

Vino, a wine bar and gaming café at 647 E. Lincoln Highway, was hit just before 6 a.m. Aug. 28. Three men smashed the glass front door with a sledgehammer and took cash boxes from three gaming machines, police said. Officers later found one of the cash boxes on the side of the road in the 200 block of East Maple Street.

That same morning, the same crew had already struck two Mokena businesses, Post Game Pub and Mindy’s Ribs, and later hit a business in Palos Hills, according to Mokena Police Chief Brian Benton. Benton said Flock cameras and business video helped police tie those burglaries to one crew, and that the group was driving a stolen Lexus SUV.

Vino had also been hit June 18, just minutes after ReUnion Bar and Grill at 1080 E. Lincoln Highway. ReUnion was broken into again Aug. 6.

By Mayor Tim Baldermann’s count on Sept. 1, New Lenox had seen 13 smash-and-grab burglaries so far this year. The Tru Country break-in made it 14, Patch reported. That count came before Route 30 Liquors was hit.

Arrests in earlier cases

There have been arrests in some earlier New Lenox cases.

Baldermann said three men have been arrested in connection with three burglaries from the spring and early summer: Hog Wild on April 2, Williamson’s on May 7 and Comise’s on July 2. The men are Devontay A. Brady, 30, of Maywood; Anthony T. Shorter, 23, of Bellwood; and Don E. Williams Jr., 20, of Chicago. The mayor said they are linked, individually or together, to one or more of those local cases and to others in the suburbs.

But those arrests came before the latest break-ins. Police have not connected the three men to the late-August and September burglaries. Brady and Shorter were already in custody when charges were announced July 27, and Williams was ordered held Aug. 18. That was before Vino, White Horse Inn, Tru Country and Route 30 Liquors were hit.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul charged the three July 27 in a broader case. They are accused of stealing more than $100,000 from video gaming machines in Cook, Will and Grundy counties between October 2025 and July 2026. The announcement did not name individual businesses.

A warrant was issued for Williams at the time. He was caught Aug. 16 after a chase that began with an attempted traffic stop in Villa Park and reached more than 107 mph, according to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin. A DuPage County judge ordered him held before trial on gun and fleeing charges.

One of those earlier cases was the Hog Wild break-in at 1300 N. Cedar Road. Police were called at 4 a.m. April 2. Security cameras showed four people in masks and gloves breaking the front door and going after the gaming machines, an ATM and the cash register. They left with a single box from one gaming machine. It held about $4,700, according to police reports.

What the village is doing

Baldermann said police have put more officers on the street overnight. But he acknowledged the limits: when a burglary takes about 90 seconds, extra patrols can’t guarantee it won’t happen.

He said the village will require businesses with gaming machines to install security shutters and will offer no-interest loans to help cover the cost. He did not say when the requirement would take effect. Under a 2019 village ordinance, those businesses already must make at least half their gross revenue from sources other than video gaming.

Some residents have asked whether gaming machines are needed in local businesses at all, Patch reported. Baldermann said local businesses rely at least somewhat on that revenue to stay afloat.

He also told Patch that business owners shouldn’t have to pay for crimes he said are often committed by repeat offenders. He criticized Gov. JB Pritzker and the SAFE-T Act, saying the state is too soft on crime. In June, Pritzker’s office did not comment to the Chicago Sun-Times on questions about video gambling burglaries.

“These crimes can be committed quickly and with relatively little effort,” Nuesse said. The trend is hard to fight, he added, when offenders who are caught are not held accountable. He urged business owners to add outdoor lighting, surveillance cameras, alarms and physical barriers such as interior roll-down shutters.

Bigger than New Lenox

New Lenox isn’t alone. Businesses with gaming machines across the Chicago suburbs have been hit in recent weeks.

In Peotone, eight masked and gloved people targeted the Peotone Travel Center, 601 S. 88th Ave., at about 4:58 a.m. Sept. 3, according to Peotone police. Five went inside and damaged six machines. Two guarded the entrance, and one kept watch near Wilmington-Peotone Road. They were in and out in under three minutes with an unknown amount of cash. No one was hurt.

In Tinley Park, four to five people with masks, gloves and sledgehammers entered a Gas N Wash at 19420 Harlem Ave. just after 3 a.m. Aug. 30, Tinley Park Police Chief Thomas Tilton said. They destroyed five gaming machines and took the cash while staff were inside. No staff members were hurt.

Across Illinois, businesses that offer video gambling were burglarized 473 times in 2025, up from 358 the year before, according to Illinois Gaming Board figures reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. More than $2.7 million was stolen in 2025. By June 22 of this year, the board had already counted 502 burglaries, though the Sun-Times noted that not every one involved stolen cash.

At Route 30 Liquors, the biggest questions remain open: whether anything was taken, and who is responsible.