Visitors to the Montrose Beach area may be wise to pack up and leave before the park closes at 11 o’clock nightly.
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| A slightly less gang-infested Montrose Beach is seen in 1946. |
Robberies and batteries have been reported at closing time recently as large crowds are moved from the park by Chicago police.
Wednesday evening, two people reported being robbed in the post-beach crowd.
One man who thought he was following four new-found friends to a party got a much different experience when he and the acquaintances broke away from the beach crowd at 10:45PM: The four turned on him, produced a handgun, beat him up, and robbed him in the 4500 block of Simmonds Drive. He offered only vague descriptions of two offenders. One was a white man armed with a silver handgun. Another was a black male in shorts.
The offenders took everything of value in the man’s possession, including his car keys.
About 15 minutes later, officers in the area were approached by other victims who said that they had been robbed. The victims offered more detail of the offenders, who are believed to be the same group that robbed the first victim.
One robber was a white man with a silver handgun, 5’7″ tall, 140 pounds, black hair, white shirt. Another was a white man between 25- and 30-years-old. Two others were described only as black men.
The second set of victims later found their smashed phones nearby and they opted not to file a police report.
