Chicago police are asking for help as they try to track down a man who allegedly stole a phone from a passenger on the Brown Line in Lakeview last month.
According to a “seeking to identify” bulletin released by CPD’s Mass Transit Unit on Friday morning, the suspect took a 23-year-old woman’s phone from her hand as she sat on a train at the Diversey station around 3:50 p.m. on April 23. The bulletin included two CTA surveillance images of the alleged thief.
Anyone with information about the suspect can contact Area Three detectives at 312-745-4443. The case number is JE-208072.
CWBChicago reported last week that robberies are being reported on the CTA train system at a far higher rate than many recent years, even though the COVID pandemic has suppressed ridership. But life is now getting back to normal, and Illinois may be on track to be fully reopened by mid-June.
Through April 20, Chicago police logged 94 robberies on CTA trains, platforms, and stations citywide, according to city data. That’s equal to or more than the number of cases recorded during many recent years with normal ridership levels. There were 125 incidents during the period last year, 119 in 2019, and 105 in 2013.
Police this year have made a significant number of arrests in connection with violent crimes on the train system after improving its collaboration with CTA on investigations and in-progress crimes.