Four more people were robbed in Lakeview on Thursday, and a fifth was mugged in nearby Uptown as a 10-day hold-up surge continues to plague the local Town Hall Police District.
Thursday’s victims ranged in age from 17 to 78. And it continues to appear that there are two different patterns: one involving a man who targets women for purses and phones, the other involving armed men.
Thursday cases
First, a 78-year-old woman was robbed as she got out of her car in the 3500 block of North Bosworth around 2:15 p.m., according to CPD spokesperson Sally Bown. The woman was in her garage after making a run to pick up medication when she was robbed, a neighbor said. The offender came up behind her, yanked her purse off her shoulder, and ran away. Police did not describe the robber.
The other robberies on Thursday were committed by two armed men.
At 9:30 p.m., two 17-year-old boys were robbed in an alley near their home in the 1500 block of West Wellington. Bown said two men armed with handguns approached the teens, told them to turn around, and pointed guns in the victims’ faces. The offenders then demanded property from the two teens and ran away with the boys’ wallets, phones, and backpacks. The victims said the robbers are two Black men in their late teens or early 20’s who stand about 5’9” tall and wore dark clothing and masks. The skinnier of the two robbers wore a Gucci belt buckle.
Around 11 p.m., two gunmen reportedly robbed an Uptown man near his home at the corner of Clarendon and Hutchinson. The offenders took the victim’s phone, walked away, then came back and robbed him of his wallet, the man said. He described the robbers as two Black men in their late teens to about 20-years-old who stand 5’8” tall. Both of them wore blue surgical masks.
Around 11:40 p.m., an armed man robbed the Subway restaurant at 3815 North Broadway. The offender displayed a gun, took money, and fled to a car waiting across the street. The robbery is nearly identical to one that unfolded at the same store October 11. That incident came after a series of armed robberies earlier that evening across Lakeview and nearby Lincoln Park.
Restaurant video shows yesterday’s offender to be a Black man in his 20’s who stands about 5’10” tall and weighs about 200 pounds. He had a beard sticking out from under a mask, and he wore a winter cap with a black Nike hoodie, dark jeans, and white shoes.
Surging robbery reports
The Town Hall Police District, which serves Lakeview and parts of Uptown, Lincoln Park, North Center, and Lincoln Square, has seen a significant rise in robberies this month. Most of the hold-ups are taking place in the afternoon and evening hours.
- On the evening of October 11, a carjacking and three other robberies were reported across the district.
- On October 13, two women were mugged in under 30 minutes in the North Center neighborhood. Police later issued a community alert about those cases.
- Three robberies were reported in the district on October 17.
- Five more were reported in Lakeview and Lincoln Park on Monday and early Tuesday.
- A woman was robbed along the Lakeview – Lincoln Park border on Tuesday afternoon and a North Center bank was robbed that evening.
Area Three detectives are investigating all of the crimes.
