At least three people were robbed in about 30 minutes in the Near North neighborhood on Sunday evening — including one victim who was attacked and tazed just off the Mag Mile. And four offenders beat and robbed a Streeterville resident as he stepped out of his condo building for a smoke break early today. The incidents are part of at least six muggings reported in the Near North area since Friday afternoon. No arrests have been made.
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Streeterville mugging
Around 1 a.m. today, four men beat and robbed a 38-year-old Streeterville resident as he smoked a cigarette outside his home on the 800 block of North Dewitt, police said.
The victim said four men walked up to him and started punching him in the head and face while demanding his valuables, according to CPD spokesperson Kellie Bartoli. When the man fell to the ground, the offenders took his property and fled southbound on Dewitt.
Bartoli said the man sought help from someone in his building lobby. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
The victim said the robbers are four black men in their early 20’s who are tall and slender.
30 minutes, 3 robberies
Three separate victims reported being robbed within a block of the Clark-Division Red Line station on Sunday evening. The spree is reminiscent of an 8-robbery wave that swept the area on Nov. 17.
Around 8 p.m., Chicago Fire Department personnel responded to a 31-year-old man who suffered injuries when a robbery offender punched him and knocked him to the ground near LaSalle and Division streets. No further details were immediately available.
At 8:25p.m., another victim flagged down police after a group of up to 15 teenagers robbed them of their phone near the corner of Division and Clark streets. The primary offender is a heavyset black male who stands about 5’6” tall and wore a blue and brown coat with fur on the hood, jeans, and black shoes. He and other members of the group headed southbound on Dearborn.
Finally, at 8:30 p.m., a 28-year-old man told police that three offenders beat, tazed, and robbed him after he agreed to let them use his phone near the Chicago Red Line station.
The victim said the offenders approached him as he walked past a McDonald’s restaurant and asked to use his phone. When he agreed, the trio attacked him and then fled with his phone and wallet, according to CPD spokesperson Ronald Westbrooks.
Police said the robbers ran into the nearby train station with the man’s property. According to the victim, the primary offender is a black male wearing a blue coat who stands about 5’7″ tall.
Other incidents
• A woman was knocked to the ground and robbed outside a River North apartment high-rise on Saturday afternoon. The woman told police that a man pushed her down and took her phone outside the building on the 100 block of West Superior around 1:45 p.m.
She said the offender is a black male in his 20’s who stands about 5’9” tall. He wore a black hoodie that has writing on its back and was last seen heading northbound in an alley next to the building.
• A 25-year-old man suffered injuries when he collapsed in a possible panic attack after being robbed in the 1100 block of North Clark on Friday afternoon, police said.
The man told police that two offenders followed him from the Clark-Division Red Line station around 3:45 p.m. One of the men approached him from behind, reached into his pocket, and took “property” before running away southbound on Clark Street, according to CPD spokesperson Jessica Alvarez.
Police said the victim chased the offender into a nearby alley, but he collapsed at some point and suffered facial injuries. An ambulance transported him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where his condition stabilized. Alvarez said.
The victim described the primary offender as a black man who’s about 20-years-old and was last seen wearing a black hoodie that bears a Nike “swoosh” and the words “Just Do It” in neon green.