An armed man carjacked a four-door pickup truck on the Northwest Side and then went on an hour-long robbery spree Monday evening through Rogers Park, West Ridge, Edgewater, and Lincoln Square, according to CPD reports. At least six robberies were reported in under an hour that investigators suspect were committed by the same man. He remains at large.
It all started around 4:30 p.m. when the offender pulled out a chrome handgun and took a man’s silver Ford F-150 pick-up truck near Central Park and Ainslie in Albany Park. According to a police report, the offender pointed a gun to the victim’s head and drove away with the distinctive-looking truck, which has an extended cab, four doors, and a huge Chicago Cubs logo on the passenger door.
Less than 15 minutes later, multiple 911 callers in West Ridge reported that a man in a silver Ford truck with a Cubs sticker stuck a gun out of his window, asked them what gang they’re in, and shouted “King Love,” a slogan affiliated with Latin King gang members.
Then, the robberies started:
- At 5 p.m., a man driving the Ford truck robbed a woman of her purse at gunpoint in the 2000 block of West Balmoral in Lincoln Square’s Bowmanville neighborhood.
- Around 5:10 p.m., a bicyclist was robbed at gunpoint of his bike and wallet near the intersection of Hollywood and Ridge in Edgewater. The offender threw the victim’s bike into the bed of the pick-up truck and sped away.
- Moments later, two victims walked into the Rogers Park Police District station to report that a man in a pickup truck robbed them at gunpoint in West Ridge. One victim was targeted on the 6400 block of North Seeley and the other in the 2100 block of West Devon.
- At 5:20 p.m., an Amazon delivery driver told police that a man took several packages from his truck at gunpoint in the 1400 block of West Olive in Edgewater. The offender put the packages into a pick-up truck and sped the wrong way down the street, according to the driver.
The victims described the offender as a Hispanic man in his late teens to late 20s. He’s about 5’8” tall, thin, clean-shaven, has short hair, and wore a light-colored shirt or jacket.
No injuries were reported. Chicago police detectives are investigating the crime spree.
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