The “corner of happy and healthy” is decidedly less happy these days after a Boystown Walgreens reported being Saturday morning, the third time that the store has been targeted in two months.
Employees were threatened and pepper sprayed in the earlier crimes. But, despite the physical violence, police classified the cases as misdemeanor shoplifting rather than felony robberies.
Offenders entered the store at 3646 N. Broadway mid-morning Saturday, threatened employees, and then fled with 10 bottles of liquor, a witness said.
On January 27, three men in their late teens or early 20’s entered the same store around 9:30AM, Maced an employee, and then fled with 10 packs of Camel cigarettes and two Bluetooth speakers, according to a police report.
The men from January 27 are described as:
• White, wearing a black hoodie with an orange hat and tan pants.
• Black, wearing a black backpack, a black hoodie, and a black ski mask.
• Black, wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans that are ripped at the knees.
An employee told police that the men were also responsible for the first incident at the store, which was reported on January 11.
In that case, three men armed with pepper spray went behind the counter around 9:45AM, took Bluetooth speakers, and then fled toward Halsted Street.
The offenders were described as two black men wearing black face masks and dressed in all black clothing accompanied by one white man dressed in a peacoat.
Illinois law defines robbery as taking another’s property through the use of force or the threat of force. Both of the earlier cases clearly meet that test.
Man Robbed In Wrigleyville
Yet another man was robbed on the streets of Wrigleyville early today.
The victim was assaulted by three men who took his wallet and cell phone near the Taco Bell at 1111 W. Addison around 2:30AM.
Police briefly tracked the stolen phone as it pinged its way south on Lake Shore Drive, eventually disappearing as it passed Division Street, a witness said.
The offenders are described as three black men wearing blue or gray hoodies. Two of the men had dreadlocks.
