A robbery victim underwent surgery this weekend after he was attacked at the Belmont Red Line station late Friday or early Saturday, police said. The incident appears to be similar to a series of attacks that detectives warned about earlier this month. No one is in custody.
The man told police he was standing outside the station when three men approached him and asked for a cigarette between 11 p.m. Friday and 1 a.m. on Saturday, according to a CPD spokesman.
When he told the men that he did not have a cigarette, one of the men punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. The three then began beating and kicking the man before stealing his phone and leaving the scene.
The victim took himself to nearby Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he underwent surgery for unspecified injuries, the spokesman said.
Police described the robbers only as three black men between 20- and 29-years old.
Detectives recently issued a community alert warning about a group of robbers who are attacking and robbing lone men near the Belmont station. In the alert, police said a pair of men had been robbing the victims on sidewalks in the area.
On July 8th, a man was about 100 yards from the station when two men approached him from behind and punched him in the face around 1:50 a.m. Both robbers went through the man’s pockets and took his property before running from the scene, the victim said.
Another man was attacked outside the station at 11:45 p.m. on June 30th. A third incident that police believe is connected took place further away in the 2500 block of North Clark at 3:30 a.m. on June 22nd.
The offenders in the alert were described only as two African-American men.
