A man with blood flowing from his mouth, staggering toward the iHop on Grace Street was the first sign of trouble.
What police soon found was a cornucopia of crime that left a robbery victim hospitalized and several party goers seeking reports for theft, burglary, and battery.
It all started at 1:30 this morning when a passer-by saw a “stairwell full of blood” and a bloody man stagger out of the Grace Shores apartment building at 655 W. Grace.
655 W. Grace is marked on this image from Here.com. Wrigley Field and the iHop’s blue roof may be seen in the background. |
Upon arriving, police found that a party on the third floor had taken an ugly turn, with a man being injured during a robbery at knifepoint and several other partygoers losing valuables to the offenders.
The robbery victim lost $60, an iPhone5, and even the black Van shoes he was wearing to a group of four offenders, according to a witness. He was taken to Illinois Masonic Medical Center for treatment and was reportedly in “stable” condition upon arrival.
“Several” other party goers had their cell phones taken by the crew, at least one of whom was known some victims.
The offenders were initially described as male, black and Hispanic, all in their late teens to early 20’s. One wore a blue North Face jacket, one wore a reflective vest, and one wore a gray hoodie. A fourth may have worn a black Ecko hoodie. An early report indicated that a white female may have been involved.
After the crime spree, all four fled toward the Sheridan Red Line station, police believe.
A number of crimes will be recorded in this matter. The armed robbery with a knife is logged in CPD case #HW545939.
Two hours after the robbery and thefts, 911 was called again when one of the offenders returned to the apartment and started banging on the door. He is described as male, Hispanic, 20 years old, 5’9″ tall, medium build, olive complexion, with a shaved head. He was wearing a light blue zip-up jacket and blue jeans.
Police searched the building around 4AM, but could not locate the suspect.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 25 2:21PM: DNAInfo picks up the story today.