What’s going on in West Loop and West Town lately?
Shortly after we published a story about an armed robbery in the area on Thursday evening, police responded to yet another carjacking there.
Around 6:30 p.m., a man was carjacked at gunpoint by a man and woman outside a parking garage on the 300 block of North Halsted, Officer Anthony Spicuzza said. The garage is part of a luxury high-rise apartment complex in the Fulton River District, according to the address listed in a CPD report.
Both offenders displayed handguns, took control of the victim’s white 2011 BMW sedan, and drove away westbound on Kinzie Street. Less than 20 minutes later, a CPD license plate reader detected the stolen car heading westbound on the Eisenhower Expressway near Central Park.
According to the victim, the male carjacker is Black and wore a dark shirt with a face mask. No further description was available for the woman.
Several robberies and carjackings have been reported in the area recently, with even more across the larger West Town community area.
Around 10 p.m. Wednesday, a man stepped out of a black SUV and ordered a man and woman to hand over their valuables at gunpoint on the 100 block of North Ada. The couple, who were walking home from dinner, complied by giving the robber their phones, wallets, and a purse, the police report said. After the robbery, the offender drove away southbound in the SUV.
About 20 minutes later, an armed robber blocked in a driver on the 500 block of North Leavitt in West Town and robbed the man at gunpoint, another report said. Minutes later and just a few blocks away, the robber carjacked a driver of their white Chevy Impala at Leavitt and Madison.
On Tuesday, a 39-year-old woman carjacked on the 400 block of North Morgan. The woman was inside her red Ford Focus around 3:35 p.m. when three men walked up to her car, and two of them displayed handguns. She complied with their orders to surrender the car, and they drove away westbound on Carroll street with her vehicle, according to police. The men reportedly pushed the woman, but she was not injured.
Last Wednesday, a 42-year-old man was carjacked while he sat in his 2016 Dodge Durango on the 1100 block of West Van Buren. The victim said three men, each armed with a handgun, climbed out of a black SUV and ordered him from his vehicle at gunpoint around 2:11 a.m.
All three hijackers fled onto the inbound Eisenhower Expressway in the man’s Durango. According to police, it was trailed by the car they arrived in, which may be a Kia Soul. The carjackers are four Black males who wore all black clothing and masks, police said.