Just before dawn on Michigan Avenue, burglars rammed a truck into the Louis Vuitton store, ran inside, and fled with stolen merchandise. As the crew tore away in multiple cars, one getaway vehicle slammed into another driver’s car at Ohio Street. That man, a Chicagoan in his 40s with no connection to the crime, was killed on his morning drive.

This is the horrifying cost of smash-and-grab crimes that have spread across Chicago. In just the past few weeks, a Rolex store was hit in broad daylight, and another crew stormed the Louis Vuitton section inside Nordstrom. What once shocked the city has become routine — organized theft rings treating our streets like racetracks and our stores like open targets. Now an innocent man is dead.

These are not victimless crimes. They devastate workers, small businesses, and families. They drive away visitors and weaken neighborhoods. Worst of all, they put ordinary people in danger every single time. Chicago residents are tired of seeing suspects cycle in and out of custody, emboldened by the lack of serious consequences. Without stronger prosecution and harsher penalties, the violence will keep escalating.

The man killed on Michigan Avenue deserves justice. Chicagoans deserve to know their leaders will not look the other way. That means treating smash-and-grab crimes for what they are: violent offenses that destroy lives and demand real accountability.

We call on Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, Chief Judge Timothy Evans, Mayor Brandon Johnson, and the Chicago City Council’s Public Safety Committee to prosecute these crimes fully and impose stronger penalties on organized crews. We cannot afford another morning like this one, another family shattered, another city street turned into a crime scene.

One life has already been stolen. If we do nothing, more will follow. Chicago must act now — for the victim, for his family, and for every resident who deserves safe streets.