One of the latest victims of an armed robbery and carjacking crew that is targeting victims in Lakeview and Lincoln Park since Christmastime has a message for her neighbors: be careful as you get in and out of your car.
The woman, who asked us not to use her name, was one of three people that the offenders robbed while brandishing a rifle in the 900 block of West Sheridan around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday.
“Tell people to be vigilant as they’re getting in and out of their cars,” she warned, saying she and her boyfriend were targeted “right outside our apartment” as they walked to their car.
Minutes earlier, police say, the same robbers targeted another woman who was unloading groceries from her vehicle nearby in the 600 block of West Grace.
“It was four gunmen. They were all wearing paisley bandanas,” the Sheridan victim recalled. “As they were holding us at gunpoint, they had another guy… who [robbed] a girl across the street from us. They took her phone and wallet.”
Police issued a community alert following Tuesday’s hold-ups that link the crimes to a series of carjackings and armed robberies in the area last month. It’s CPD’s second public warning about the group.
“I just remember looking at the man who had the [rifle], and I said ‘no please,’” she recalled.
“People are getting carjacked on the streets as they’re getting in and out of their cars,” the woman told us. “It’s scary, and I know a lot of people watch this account, so please warn them for me.”
Before robbing the four victims in Lakeview on Tuesday, the armed robbers struck three times elsewhere in the city: in the 2900 block of West Augusta around 5 p.m. and then in the 900 block of West 18th Street at 6:16 p.m., according to CPD. Less than ten minutes later, they carjacked a white Jeep Cherokee in the 2100 block of West Cullerton and made their way to the North Side.
Police provided descriptions of four suspects in their alert:
- Three Black males between 15- and 26-years-old. One stands 5’8” tall, another 6-feet, and the third about 6’2”.
- A Black male between 19- and 23-years-old
In addition to Tuesday’s hold-ups, police believe the offenders are responsible for a wave of similar crimes reported in Lakeview and Lincoln Park during Christmas week.
Anyone with information about the crimes can contact Area Three detectives at 312-744-8263 regarding crime pattern P20-3-226A.
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