Josephine’s Southern Cooking burglarized; co-owner says he knows person responsible

Josephine’s Southern Cooking in Chatham was burglarized Tuesday morning, and a co-owner of the restaurant said he was upset when he realized he knew who did it.

“The said thing about it is I have a very good idea of who it is,” Victor Love said in a video posted to his Facebook page. “It’s a young man that we’ve extended help to in the community.”

About 3 a.m., someone forced their way into the business and took various items from inside before fleeing through an alley, according to Chicago police.

“I was coming in to open up and saw something that didn’t look right in the back parking lot,” Love said. “I got out and checked the other door and saw one of the back doors was unlocked or had been opened.”

Love said TVs and computers were stolen but also 10 bikes and “bags of toys” that his son had been collecting for a toy drive.

The restaurant was previously burglarized in May 2018, when it was known as Captain’s Hard Time Dining. In that case, someone cut and stole copper wiring from the business.

However, despite the losses in the recent burglary, Love said he won’t let the incident discourage him from extending a helping hand to community members in the future.

“I don’t want to let one bad apple spoil it for the bunch because we love these kids unconditionally,” he said. “We’re gonna let justice prevail.”

No arrests have been reported. Area South detectives are investigating.

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