Pistol-whipping robbery crew returns to Wicker Park

Wicker Park’s pistol-whippin’, gun-shootin’ robbery crew made encore performances Tuesday evening and early Wednesday, according to CPD reports. Officers briefly chased the robbers as they drove away from the latest hold-up, but police supervisors ordered patrol cars to terminate the pursuit.

Police said the robbers pistol-whipped three victims and fired a shot into the air during a fourth robbery on Monday evening. They came back for more Tuesday.

Shortly before 8 p.m., three men jumped out of a small black SUV and confronted a man on the 1600 block of West Beach Avenue while displaying two handguns. One offender put their gun to a man’s head as the robbery unfolded.

Then, at 12:23 a.m. Wednesday, two offenders displayed handguns and pistol-whipped a 26-year-old man in an alley behind the 1400 block of North Milwaukee, police said. They took his wallet and phone, then fled in a black Honda CRV.

Police spotted the Honda, which bore the same license plate as an identical car used during Monday’s robberies, and chased it for a couple of minutes until CPD supervisors determined that the pursuit presented too great of a threat to public safety. They terminated the chase.

During Monday’s crime spree, the offenders pistol-whipped three victims during separate hold-ups and then fired a shot into the air when their fourth victim punched one of them, police said.

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