Thieves Break Into Bakery, Sell Stolen Cakes Through Broken Window

Some very bold thieves attacked a beloved Chicago bakery last week to steal anything they could find that had caramel on it, and left everything else behind.

Stephanie Hart, the owner of Chicago's Brown Sugar Bakery, arrived at her bakery Thursday morning to discover that someone had smashed the front window. In a Facebook post made that morning, she said that at first she wasn't sure what to make of the burglary, because she did not keep any money at the store, so she knew the thieves hadn't taken any of her cash. After some investigation, however, she realized that they had taken a lot of her cakes right out of the bakery cases, and not only that, but they only stole baked goods with caramel.

"There was nothing caramel left in the store," Hart said to DNAinfo. "As the day went on I became more and more flabbergasted."

According to Hart, the thieves left all the valuables in the store, and also all the baked goods that did not have caramel. The chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and other cakes were left right in the bakery cases, but anything with caramel was gone.

All told, the thieves made off with 48 items including cakes, cupcakes, and brownies. While the caramel-loving thieves might have kept some for themselves, they also turned a profit from their crime, because witnesses told Hart that the thieves were selling the ill-gotten cakes to passersby right through the broken window.

"Well, we later discovered (via an eyewitness) that someone(s) was selling cakes out the broken window at 1 a.m. in the morning!!!" Hart wrote. "The robbers were selling and people actually bought cakes out the window!"

A neighboring businessman said his customers told him that full cakes were selling for just $10, and people were eagerly taking the thieves up on the deal.

"Everybody knows how good her cakes are, they were buying it like crazy like she was still open," said Al King, owner of a nearby business, to DNAinfo.

Hart says she will be adding a security system and cameras to the store, lest someone come back for the chocolate and strawberry cakes the thieves left behind.