Urban Clothing Store Hit in Crash-and-Grab

Masked men used a truck to rip the gate off the Dress Code store in far south suburban Lansing

Masked men used a truck to rip the gate off a suburban clothing store and got away with expensive jeans and jackets, a witness and police said Tuesday.

Michael Barns told NBC Chicago he was driving past the Dress Code store on Torrence Avenue, in Lansing, at about 5 a.m. when he spotted a maroon Ford F150 truck backed up to the store. Thinking it was suspicious, he called 911. 

"I saw one gentleman pull a chain from the back of the truck and drop it on the ground," he recalled.

Hamza Fawzi and his brother, Mohammad, the owners of the store, said the men tied the chain to the gate, ripped it off, and then broke the front glass window to gain entry. The burglars made off with Rock Revival jeans, which can sell for $150 or more, and Pelle Pelle jackets that range in price from $300 to $1,300. 

"Certain sections weren't even touched, so they knew what they were doing," Fawzi said. "They didn't touch anything under 50 bucks."

The Dress Code location has been open for a little more than a year and is one of five stores throughout the area. Another store on the 200 block of West 87th Street was hit about a year ago when someone drove a church van through the front of the store. A location on the 4700 block of South Ashland Avenue has also been burglarized when someone climbed through the ceiling and got away with items.

No one was in custody in connection with the latest heist as of 4:30 p.m., police said. 

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