Police are trying to track down a two-man robbery and theft crew that is targeting victims at bank ATMs on the city’s North Side, according to a source. Detectives have not publicly warned about the crime pattern yet.
Typically, one or two men approach victims – usually women – as they use ATMs outside bank branches. One possible case was reported Saturday on the Far North Side at Chase Bank, 6350 North McCormick, in the North Park neighborhood.
That’s when a man took money from an elderly woman as she used the branch’s ATM. He then escorted the woman into the bank and tried to get her to withdraw more money from a teller. When a bank security guard intervened and asked the woman why the man was with her, she said she didn’t know, according to a police report.
A similar crime unfolded at a Chase Bank branch in Lincoln Square on July 25. Two men forced the victim to withdraw cash from an ATM at 1809 West Lawrence and then forced her to withdraw additional funds from a teller inside the bank, a police spokesperson said at the time. The offenders took about $4,000 — the same amount that was reportedly sought in the North Park incident.
In a slightly different scenario on August 6, two robbers forced a man to withdraw money from an ATM at Chase Bank, 3335 North Ashland, in Lakeview. The 25-year-old man was depositing a check when the men approached him around 8:20 p.m., according to police. No suspect descriptions were available in the case.
Saturday’s offender was a tall Black male who wore a green jacket with a blue cap, according to witness descriptions.
The Lincoln Square incident involved two Black males: One was well-built, stood about 6-feet tall, and had a trimmed beard. The other weighed about 275 pounds. They have been seen using a white Jeep and an unspecified red vehicle, according to witnesses.
Area Three detectives are investigating the crimes.