Video shows Chicago restaurant workers chasing man after reported theft

Scammers are targeting people while they are eating at some local restaurants. Our Saquon joins us live this morning with more details on their method. Say, what have you learned? Well, you know, police are really just warning people to be on the lookout here. Make sure you're protecting your belongings after they say that there's been a string of thefts happening all across the loop. And it's happening, guys, in broad daylight, out in the open, when people are around. Check out this brand new video that we just got. It's from Melly Cafe. And you can see this guy here walking out. He's kind of in that two-toned jacket outfit there. And then you can see this group of workers basically chasing him out of the business here. So this was on October 7th of this year. So far this month, guys, police say they have been called out to at least eight separate incidents, very similar to what you just saw, including at neighboring businesses right here in the Printers Row neighborhood on Dearborn and then down to South Clark Street and Michigan Avenue as well. Police say these thieves are hitting up places like diners, restaurants, coffee shops, posing as charity fundraisers by placing a flyer or a newspaper right on top of people's wallets, purses or cell phones. While the victims are distracted, maybe they're engaging in conversation, that is when they slide your valuables underneath the paper to hide your actual belongings and then they walk away with it. Police say several victims also reported their credit cards were being used just minutes later at nearby department stores. Police say the suspects are being described by victims as young black men between 17 and 25 years old, wearing dark clothing and face coverings. Investigators say they've also seen them driving two different cars here. That includes a late model white Buick and a black Mazda sedan. Officials are urging both customers and business owners to take precautions. That means keeping your valuables off the table and off out of reach, checking your security cameras and then calling 911 immediately if you see anything suspicious. If you have any information about any of the incidents that were reported across the loop, you are asked to contact Area 3 detectives immediately. Guys, back to you. Okay, Say, so it seems like they're not just targeting people on patios, and that's what you would kind of assume in this situation. Can I kind of put you on the spot? Have you been able to talk to the owner of Melly Cafe? I'm guessing you have. Have they seen any situations like this before? It seems really odd. Well, I think they're all pretty shaken up, I would say. This happened obviously a few weeks ago, but I was talking with one of the workers in fact, and he was saying he was there that day. In fact, we learned that they weren't able to actually recover the items that these thieves were able to get away with, but apparently police did track them down in a separate incident that same day just hours later. We've actually learned through the workers who are citing Chicago police that there were two men involved in that same day and they were accused of stealing cars and they apparently crashed into a bunch of people in the loop. They even hit a marked squad car that day and police say that they found a gun inside that car as well. So it's really a miracle that no one was hurt in this process as well. But it does sound like police were able to recover those items and hopefully they were able to get returned back to its original owner, guys. Hopefully it stops here and this has become a new trend that we see around the city. Thanks for the report, Jay.