A group of men needed less than 30 minutes to rob three women, ages 23 to 68, in separate robberies in Lakeview on Thursday evening, according to police. The hold-ups came one day after five victims were targeted in the same area on Wednesday evening. Dozens of victims have been robbed in Lakeview, and nearby Lincoln Park as recurring sprees have popped up in the area since early November.
According to witnesses, Thursday’s robberies involved multiple offenders who drove around in a light-colored Dodge Charger with a pinstripe running from the trunk to the hood.
Around 5:10 p.m., a man grabbed a 25-year-old woman from behind and threw her to the ground as she walked her dog on the 3900 block of North Southport, according to CPD Officer Steve Rusanov and a witness who spoke with CWBChicago.
The robber took the woman’s valuables and then escaped in the Charger.
Then, a 68-year-old woman was attacked from behind and thrown to the ground by a man who tried to take her purse on the 1300 block of West School around 5:23 p.m., Rusanov said. The offender punched the woman in her face and then ran away with her bag.
Finally, around 5:35 p.m., two men tried to rob a 23-year-old woman of her phone on the 1300 block of West Grace, Rusanov said.
None of the victims required medical attention, according to Rusanov.
The offenders were described as two slender Black men in their late teens or early 20’s who wore masks and hoodies.
A CPD unit spotted the suspects’ car on Ashland Avenue near Diversey Parkway shortly after the third robbery, but they did not engage the robbers in a pursuit.
Lakeview and, to a lesser extent, areas of Lincoln Park and Old Town saw a surge in robberies during November, with at least 27 victims being held-up, according to CPD records. The Town Hall police district, which patrols Lakeview and the northern third of Lincoln Park, recorded 40 robberies during the first 28 days of November, up from 29 robberies during the period last year, according to CPD data.
Less than 15 minutes after the last robbery was reported Thursday evening, Area Three detectives issued a community alert that linked Wednesday’s muggings in Lakeview to other cases reported in the neighborhood last month.
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