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| | Petr Kratochvil |
Four teenagers pushed a man from his Divvy bike and robbed him of cash near Buckingham Fountain on Tuesday evening, according to police dispatch records. It was at least the third mugging of a bicyclist at or near the lakefront in a week. No one is in custody for any of the crimes.
The victim sought help from a traffic aide after the offenders knocked him from his bike, took his cash, and ran away around 5:50 p.m.
Police met with the victim who said the primary offender was a teenaged black male with wavy hair who wore a red shirt. The teen and three others were last seen running westbound from the fountain at 501 South Columbus.
Officers said the man refused medical treatment and did not want to wait for a patrol car to take his report.
On the evening of July 30th, two bicyclists were robbed by groups of teenagers in separate incidents along the lakefront between Oak Street Beach and North Avenue Beach.
Around 9:40 p.m., a 44-year-old man was standing on the 1000 block of North Lake Shore Drive when three men approached and punched him in the face, police said. The offenders took his bike and other belongings and then fled the scene, according to Chicago police.
The robbers in that incident were described as black males between 19- and 21-years-old who stand 5’4” to 5’9” tall and weigh about 160 pounds, according to a CPD spokesperson.
Less than two hours later, a 40-year-old woman was biking southbound on the lakefront trail when she was approached by five men near the pier at North Avenue Beach around 11:20 p.m.
The victim said one of the men pushed her off of her bike, and the offenders then took her 10-speed along with other personal property before they ran from the scene.
Officers who searched the area found two males walking north of Oak Street Beach with a bike similar to the victim’s. The men were detained, but the victim said they did not fit the description of the people who robbed her and police let them go, a CPD spokesperson said. The bike, however, was returned to the woman and officers gave her a ride to her Uptown home.
The woman described the offenders only as five teenage black males who were last seen heading toward the La Salle Drive underpass, according to a CPD source.
