At least three armed robberies and carjackings have been reported on one block in Bucktown since Friday night, and the crimes appear to be part of a larger pattern in the area. That will be unwelcome news to people who live on or near the 1900 block of West Wabansia.
Police are investigating a flurry of crimes in the area, including three that were reported in about an hour last night:
- In Logan Square, an armed man stepped out of an older red SUV and tried to carjack a driver on the 1900 block of North Honore around 8 p.m. The would-be victim managed to foil the attempt and the offender fled in the SUV he arrived in.
- At 8:20 p.m., a man got out of a red SUV that was occupied by two other men and robbed a woman a gunpoint on the 1900 block of West Wabansia, police said. The woman, 38, gave the gunman her phone and a bag full of camera equipment. He then escaped in the SUV.
- A 30-year-old woman who was waiting for a relative in a parked car on the 2100 block of West Moffat was carjacked at gunpoint by a group of men around 8:57 p.m., police said. Two of the men displayed handguns and ordered her out of her gray Mazda M3. They drove away with the car while two or three accomplices fled on foot, according to police.
- A witness reported seeing a woman being attacked by a man who fled in an older model red SUV on 1900 block of West Wabansia around 8 p.m., but no police report was immediately available for that incident.
Several other incidents have been reported in the area since Friday:
- At 9:38 p.m. Friday, a 27-year-old man was pistol-whipped and carjacked on the 1900 block of West Wabansia, according to CPD spokesperson Kellie Bartoli. The victim said he was inside his black 2019 Nissan Altima when a gunman emerged from a gray SUV and ordered him out of the car. As the victim was stepping out, the offender hit him in the head with a handgun, causing him to fall to the ground, Bartoli said. The hijacker then drove away with the man’s car, followed by the gray SUV.
- Around 12:20 a.m. Saturday, two men took a man’s Toyota RAV4 at gunpoint on the 1300 block of North Bosworth in Noble Square, according to a CPD alert. The victim was dropping off a woman after their first date when they encountered two cars that were double-parked on Wabansia. Those two cars blocked the man in and carjacked him.
- At 1:45 a.m. Saturday, another carjacking was reported on the 2000 block of West Wabansia, police said. Investigators believe the hijacking was committed by the same crew that struck on Bosworth less than 90 minutes earlier, according to a CPD alert.
- Two men using a gray Toyota RAV4 tried to carjack a driver on the 2000 block of North Wolcott around 12:30 p.m. Sunday. The driver foiled the hijacking attempt by accelerating away from the scene.
- At 12:55 p.m. Sunday, two men stepped out of a gray Toyota RAV4 and tried to rob a man at gunpoint on the 2200 block of West Polk. But the man was not carrying anything of value and the offenders fled empty-handed, according to CPD records.
Police said the suspects in Friday’s carjackings are Black males in their early- to mid-20s who stand 5’8″ to 5’11” tall and weigh 150 to 175 pounds.
No arrests have been made. Area Five detectives are handling the investigations.
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