A pick-pocket team that Chicago police warned about recently has struck at least seven more times in the downtown subway system. That’s according to an updated community alert issued by Area Central detectives on Sunday afternoon.
Last weekend, police released a set of images and asked for help in identifying the two men. Since then, the team has victimized a series of CTA passengers on the downtown underground.
The two men are working together to take wallets from passengers’ pockets and book bags, police said. One offender creates a diversion or blocks the victim’s path while the other relieves the victim of their wallet.
Police said the thieves withdraw money from nearby ATMs before the victims report their debit cards stolen. But investigators did not say how the men have managed to secure the victims’ PINs.
Both pick-pockets are between 45- and 60-years-old and they wear a variety of baseball hats, the alert said.
The team is responsible for at least nine thefts from victims on board CTA trains and in train stations: in the first block of West Jackson at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 23; in the 200 block of South State at 5 p.m. on Sept. 24 and again at 5 p.m. on Oct. 2; in the 300 block of South Dearborn at 2:47 p.m. on Sept. 19; in the 1100 block of South State at 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 28; in the 200 block of South Wabash at 3:20 p.m. on Sept. 30 and again at 8 p.m. on Oct. 1; and on the 100 block of North Dearborn at 3:37 p.m. on Sept. 23 and 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 2.
Anyone with information about these men may contact Area Central detectives at 312-747-8384 regarding pattern P19-1-322.