It has been a relatively active week for robberies in the Lakeview neighborhood, according to police reports. But there does not appear to be any connection between the incidents.
Most recently, a Lakeview man was tackled and robbed outside the Jewel-Osco store in Boystown on Thursday afternoon. The man was in the 3500 block of North Broadway when an offender tackled him and took his wallet, according to a report. The robber then ran from the scene. He is described as a white man who stands about 6-feet tall. He was said to be clean-shaven and wore a blue bucket hat.
Elsewhere in the neighborhood:
• A gunman reportedly robbed a Lakeview woman of her laptop bag and headphones near Barry and Ashland on Wednesday morning. The victim told police that the man emerged from an alley and confronted her with a handgun.
He took the woman’s leather bag which contained a silver MacBook and other items, then fled in an older model white sedan that was occupied by one other person, according to a police report.
The victim said the gunman was a thin Hispanic man in his early- to mid-20’s who stands about 5’10” tall and wore a white T-shirt. Police said the woman’s bag was found a short time after the hold-up near Nelson and Paulina. But the computer, headphones, and other items remained missing.
• Late Saturday, Sept. 14, a man reported that he was attacked and robbed by a group of offenders near the intersection of Belmont and Sheffield. The victim told police that he was grabbed from behind, thrown to the ground, beaten, and robbed by four men around 11 p.m.
He provided police with descriptions of two offenders, both Hispanic men: One has long hair, stands 6’3” tall and wore a black shirt with black pants while the other was bald, had tattoos on his face and wore a black shirt. Both men were last seen heading northbound on Wilton Avenue, the victim said.
• Just south of Lakeview, a woman was robbed of her phone when she intervened in a shoplifting mob on the 2200 block of North Lincoln on Wednesday evening. Police said three teenage males collected items from a smoke and vape shop and headed for the door around 5:15 p.m.
When the store clerk tried to stop them, one of the teens struck him in the face with a hard object. And when the woman stepped in, the mob took her phone.
The male employee declined medical attention for a cut to his face. He described the offenders as black males in their teens, one of whom wore a ripped blue shirt. They were all seen heading northbound on Lincoln Avenue.
• Finally, a frequent arrestee in the Lakeview neighborhood is being held without bail after she allegedly robbed a local “adult products” store at knifepoint.
Prosecutors said Danontae Blanton gathered $150 worth of clothing at Egor’s Dungeon and then wielded a wooden-handled knife when a female clerk tried to stop her around 9 p.m. on Sept. 7.
“Move or I will cut you,” Blanton allegedly said as she made her way out of the store at 900 West Belmont. Police arrested Blanton a short time later on the 3300 block of North Halsted.
She is charged with Class X felony armed robbery, misdemeanor aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and misdemeanor retail theft. Judge Mary Marubio ordered her held without bail.
Blanton has been arrested multiple times in Lakeview East for retail theft, battery, and theft of services.