Surveillance video from Big Run Golf Club shows three men stealing 10 golf carts early Wednesday morning around 2 a.m., the latest blow to a family-owned Lockport, Illinois business that says it has now been targeted twice in less than a year. The club says it never got back the 10 carts stolen in a similar theft in July, and this time it is asking the public for help tracking down the culprits.
According to FOX 32 Chicago, Big Run Golf Club General Manager Jack Hogan said the family-owned business has been around since 1930, and that this is the second time it has been hit. Hogan said the repeated thefts are hurting the business and driving up its insurance costs, with the current invoice listing $4,900 per cart.
A Costly Repeat for a Historic Course
The July theft, in which 10 carts also disappeared and were never recovered, left the club dealing with a similar financial hit. Hogan said the previous theft resulted in charges of $49,000, though that total has not been independently confirmed beyond the $4,900-per-cart figure he cited for both incidents. Per the station’s report, the Will County Sheriff’s Office appears to be investigating the latest theft, though no arrests have been confirmed, and FOX 32 says it is still waiting to hear whether anyone has been taken into custody.
Big Run’s owners didn’t hold back when they posted about the theft on Facebook, taking a sarcastic jab at the suspects: “Lockport, somewhere out there is a village missing its idiots. And unfortunately, they found our golf course.” The club is asking community members who recognize the men caught on camera to come forward, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Lockport Police Department at 815-838-2131.
Not an Isolated Problem in the Chicago Area
Golf carts have become an increasingly attractive target elsewhere in the region. In late October, police in Lake Bluff said they caught multiple people trying to load golf carts into two U-Haul trucks around 12:10 a.m. on a Friday, according to the Lake & McHenry County Scanner. One of the U-Haul trucks fled across the Chicago area before officers caught up with it, and a second suspect was later arrested as well, with both brought to the Lake Bluff Police Department…