Man steals safe from Arlington Heights motel

A man broke into the front office of an Arlington Heights Red Roof Inn Thursday morning and took off with a safe containing more than $1,000, police confirmed.

The man broke the front glass door of the office at approximately 3:25 a.m. while the clerk was checking out a malfunction in one of the rooms, police said. The hotel is located at 22 West Algonquin Road.

The suspect was able to tear the 50-pound safe out of a closet. The safe, which measured 2 feet by 3 feet, was bolted to the floor, police said.

The man, which a witness could only describe as wearing a blue hoodie, also forced open a cash register beneath the front desk and emptied $150 from it.

With the safe in hand, the suspect got in the passenger seat of a tan Toyota hatchback, which headed west on Algonquin Road, police said.

The safe was valued at $750. Police estimated damages to the door and register at $1,300.