Chicago Subway shop uses bulletproof case to protect sandwich makers
A jarring photo showing the potentially life-saving shield was allegedly taken inside a West Pullman shop. An employee at a neighboring shop remarked to The News: ‘It’s not odd, it just depends on the owner wanting to keep all the employees safe
Just how dangerous is Chicago looking these days?
A South Side Subway sandwich shop appears to be going the extra protective mile by installing a bulletproof case around their sandwich station and cash register — and they’re not exactly alone.
A jarring photo showing the potentially life-saving shield was allegedly taken inside a West Pullman shop by a CBS Chicago reporter while out fetching a bite to eat.
A manager at the store on 116th St. and South Halsted wasn’t available for comment, but neighboring employees had a few things to say.
“We are in a pretty dangerous area,” an employee of the next door Shrimp House Fish & Chicken restaurant told the Daily News Thursday while confirming the Subway encasing’s existence.
“It’s not odd, it just depends on the owner wanting to keep all the employees safe,” the 22-year-old woman identified as Samantha said.
On the contrasting side of the Subway shop, an employee at South China Kitchen who didn’t want to be identified told The News that she’s worked there for the last 15 years and, “it’s a very good area.”
“No shootings,” she said, while stating that their restaurant has no protective encasing around it. A Google street view of the shops appears to show some kind of protective bars on the outside windows that she denied.
According to the area’s crime reports compiled by the Chicago Tribune, there have been seven criminal instances between March 15 and April 14 within a three block radius.
Two were for assault with a firearm, three were reports of narcotics or cannabis, and two were for theft of either less or more than $500.
Sadly, Chicagoland as a whole is well known for its record number of shootings and violence making protective measures such as this not all that surprising.
Over Easter weekend alone, nine people were killed and 36 others injured in shootings, the Chicago Tribune reported. One of them was an 11-year-old girl.
At the next-door shrimp and chicken shop, Samantha, who says she’s lived in the area all her life, said she feels safe despite it occasionally being a bit rough.
Their store also has a glass window for protection, she said, “but we don’t close it often.”
ngolgowski@nydailynews.com
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