A Rockford restaurant that opened in late October last year is hoping for a cleaner start to the new year.
Chicken Hop was robbed on Nov. 11 and again about a month later on Dec. 8. Both robberies took place after closing, and both times a large rock was used to smash open the restaurant's glass doors and take an undisclosed amount of money.
"It hurt us a lot," said restaurant manager Abdul Alhammwi. "We lost money and we lost customers."
After the second robbery, the store was forced to close for several days.
"It was too cold to open," Alhammwi said explaining the sheets of plywood covering the broken glass doors were insufficient to keep the cold out and the heat in. He said it took several days to have the three glass doors replaced.
While the male subject wanted in connection to the second robbery remains free, he was captured on the restaurant's security cameras breaking into and leaving the business.
Police released the video to the public shortly after the robbery.
Upon request, Alhammwi shows the video to customers on one of three overhead TVs that normally display the restaurant's menu.
"When customers ask what happen, I tell them," he said. "I'm not going to say nothing happened."
Alhammwi said a couple of customers cried when they saw the video.
Prior to becoming Chicken Hop, the building at 3511 E. State St. was occupied by All Day Donuts and was frequented by police officers who were late night and early morning customers. The donut and coffee shop closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
"We thought it would be safe here," Alhammwi said.
The Chicken Hop serves fried chicken, rotisserie-baked chicken, boneless wings, as well as fish, shrimp, burgers, gyros, Chicago style hotdogs, Philly steak sandwiches, and steak, chicken and ground beef tacos and separate menu of traditional Arabic foods.
The restaurant is open daily 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.
Anyone with information about either robbery is asked to call the Rockford Police Department at 815-966-2900 or Crime Stoppers at 815-963-7867.
