Blotter: Another victim says a group of teens robbed him near Millennium Park; Parking lot attendant robbed in River North; more…

Crown Fountain in Millennium Park. | Serge Melki Creative Commons

Here are a few incidents that we missed last week:

Teens mug tourist at Millennium Park

A tourist told police that a group of five or six teenagers battered him and stole his phone while he visited Millennium Park with his wife and daughter on Monday, Dec. 9.

After the offenders punched him and took his phone around 7 p.m., the family hailed an Uber to take them back to their South Loop hotel. The man told police he spotted the group of teens from the Uber as they walked on Michigan Avenue near Van Buren around 7:15 p.m. He got out and followed them briefly, but he was unable to catch up with them.

The man said the teens were black and between 14- and 16-years-old. One wore a black jacket, and another wore a red hoodie.

Robber targets River North parking lot, gets car

An armed man robbed a River North parking lot attendant at gunpoint last Wednesday afternoon and got away with a stack of car keys, a car, and the phone of a second victim.

The parking lot on Chicago Avenue behind 770 North LaSalle | Google

Around 12:05 p.m., a motorist called 911 because they saw the parking lot attendant at 770 North LaSalle, “looking very scared and breathing heavily,” according to CPD dispatch records. The caller said they thought the attendant was being robbed.

They were right. 

The attendant told responding officers that a man struck him, implied that he had a weapon, and began collecting car keys. The offender then got into an Audi Q5 that was parked on the lot and sped away westbound on Chicago Avenue, the attendant said. 

Police license plate reading technology detected the stolen Audi at 55th Street and Wells Street in Englewood about 35 minutes later.

The second victim’s phone pinged in the same general area around that time, too.

According to the victims, the offender is a skinny, young, black male who stands 6-feet to 6’2” tall. He wore a black knit hat with a black hoodie.

Phone sale turns into phone robbery

A man who arranged to sell a phone online wound up getting punched in the face and robbed of the device when he rendezvoused with the prospective buyer.

Police said the man arranged to carry out the sale inside the lobby of Jones College Prep, 700 South State, around 5 p.m. on Dec. 11. But when the would-be purchaser arrived, he socked the victim in the face and ran off with the phone.

The victim has no association with the school.

According to the victim, the robber is a black male who stands about 6-feet tall. He was wearing a black jacket, a gray hoodie, and blue jeans. The offender was accompanied by a black female who wore a light green tracksuit. Both were last seen heading eastbound on Balbo, the victim said.

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