A prolific group of criminals specializing in armed carjackings and ATM burglaries targeted at least 12 businesses overnight just days after the FBI announced that they are getting involved in CPD’s pursuit of the crew.
Police believe the crew has been active for weeks, stealing ATMs, cash registers, cigarettes, and liquor during overnight hours and carjacking drivers when they need a new vehicle to get around.
As recently as Sunday morning, the men were traveling in a Dodge Durango bearing Illinois plate S339713 that they carjacked from a woman in West Town on Wednesday morning, according to the FBI and CPD records.
The crew is also linked to an attempted carjacking in Logan Square that same morning that left a 31-year-old driver with a gunshot wound to his hand. Prosecutors charged 17-year-old Travon Duffie with that crime and said he fired a second round at the victim’s stomach that was deflected by the man’s iPhone.
In a bulletin issued Friday, the FBI urged the public to call 911 if they see the Durango.
The Durango was used again early Sunday as the crew swept across the North Side, Lincolnwood, and the Near West Side. ATMs and cash registers were among the items taken from businesses at:
- A restaurant in the 1600 block of West Howard
- A convenience store in the 5300 block of North Sheridan
- A convenience store in the 1100 block of West Thorndale
- A tattoo parlor in the 4400 block of North Broadway
- A bar in the 4400 block of North Broadway
- A convenience store in the 4700 block of North Sheridan
- A convenience store in the 3900 block of North Sheridan
- A convenience store in the 1300 block of North Western
- A restaurant in the 2000 block of West North
- Two gas stations and a liquor store in suburban Lincolnwood
Early Thursday, the men used the same Durango in another series of break-ins that targeted:
- A taqueria in the 2600 block of West North
- A liquor store in the 3300 block of West North
- A convenience store in the 5800 block of West Fullerton
- A liquor store in the 2900 block of North Harlem
They also burglarized at least seven businesses during the overnight hours of Tuesday and Wednesday. That Wednesday spree was capped off by the Durango carjacking and the shooting of the other hijacking victim.
The burglary team has been taking ATMs, liquor, cigarettes, and other valuables during early morning raids for weeks. They struck multiple locations on February 4, February 3, January 26, January 20, January 1, and December 26.
Records show they have generally targeted mom & pop convenience stores, Mexican restaurants, and liquor stores where free-standing ATMs are usually permanently installed.
They have also taken an ATM from an Old Town service station that was open for businesses at the time of their raid. And now, they’ve expanded to include CVS and Walgreens on their target lists.