Sledgehammers and Crowbars: Gaming Business Burglaries Lead to Arrests in IL

Two Illinois men have been arrested in relation to a string of burglaries that targeted ATMs and video gaming machines at businesses located throughout Central Illinois. Now, police are trying to determine whether the pair may be linked to additional break-ins. They Crawled Down Through the Roof R.A.H. of Decatur and T.R.Z. of Macon are accused of breaking into gaming parlors, bars and other businesses, according to court documents reported by the Herald & Review. Investigators allege the men would often tuse the roof to sneak into businesses, where they cut the power and relied on sledgehammers and crowbars to remove ATMs. Among the businesses allegedly targeted were Nellie’s Tavern in Decatur, where an ATM was stolen on July 17, and Debbie’s Gaming, also in Decatur. In that July 30 incident, burglars reportedly tried to pull an ATM from the floor, but to no avail. Cell Phone Data Gave Them Away Police said it was cell phone data that eventually helped investigators locate the suspects. Early Monday, September 14, authorities tracked phones associated with H. and Z. to BB’s B.F.E. Bar & Grill in Latham, about 25 miles northwest of Decatur. The Logan County Sheriff’s Office was asked to check the business and found that it had been burglarized. According to affidavits, the power had been shut off, an ATM had been broken open and several video gaming machines had been smashed and emptied of cash. H. and Z. were put under arrest later that same morning. Police said subsequent searches turned up burglary tools, money boxes from gaming machines and vehicles they believe were stolen. Investigators also recovered a Hyundai that had allegedly been repainted from red to black. Expanding Investigations Detectives are now examining the suspects’ movements across Central and Southern Illinois to determine whether they could be connected to other burglaries. The arrests come as Illinois continues to deal with a sharp increase in crimes targeting businesses with video gaming terminals. The state has close to 50,000 terminals installed across thousands of bars, restaurants, truck stops and gaming locations, creating a large network of potential targets. Illinois Gaming Board data obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times showed 502 gaming-related burglaries had already been reported by June 22, compared with 473 during the entire year in 2025. More than $1.5 million had reportedly been stolen during the first part of 2026, with businesses in more than 100 municipalities affected. Police have also been investigating a series of smash-and-grab attacks in Wheeling, New Lenox and Peotone. In those cases, masked offenders allegedly used sledgehammers to break into gaming machines. New Lenox had recorded at least 14 gaming-related burglaries by early September, underscoring the scale of the problem facing Illinois gaming businesses.