They did it again. On Sunday evening, an armed man stole a car by confronting a restaurant valet attendant in the Fulton River District. It’s at least the fourth time valet stands have been targeted in the past three weeks.
Last Wednesday, two men stole a pair of luxury cars belonging to Chicago Blackhawks players after confronting a West Loop restaurant valet worker at gunpoint. The earlier incidents were also reported in the West Loop.
Sunday’s hijacking unfolded outside La Scarola, 721 West Grand, around 6:45 p.m. The parking attendant, age 52, was standing near the front of the restaurant when a gunman took three sets of keys from the valet stand, according to a CPD report.
The offender drove away with an Audi sedan last seen heading south on the Dan Ryan Expressway near 51st Street.
On Wednesday evening, video cameras recorded the armed robbery of a West Loop restaurant’s valet attendant in which two men drove away with a pair of luxury automobiles. Footage of the robbery outside Little Goat, 820 West Randolph, was shared with CWBChicago by Twitter user @Kingtone773.
The valet told police that two men confronted him at the valet stand, and one of them presented a handgun as they ordered him to open the lockbox where car keys are stored.
According to the report, the men took keys from the box and then located two luxury cars to drive away: a black Porsche Panamera and a black Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk owned by Blackhawks players. CWBChicago does not identify crime victims by name unless they choose to go public.
The gunman, a Black male who wore a black hoodie with gray pants, took the Porsche while another Black male wearing a black hoodie with black shoes fled in the Trackhawk.
Police found the Trackhawk abandoned in the Pilsen neighborhood around 9:15 p.m. Wednesday. Around the same time, a CPD license plate reader spotted the Porsche traveling through Bronzeville on the back of a tow truck.
Earlier valet incidents
Around 9:09 p.m. on December 11, a valet attendant was at his post outside a restaurant on the 1200 block of West Hubbard when a gunman approached and went into the key box, according to a CPD report. He helped himself to vehicle keys, including a set that controlled a white 2017 Mercedes Benz coupe parked nearby.
He took off in the Mercedes accompanied by a red Jeep Liberty driven by an apparent accomplice. The hijackers were described as two Black men wearing black hoodies.
Three days later, a group of hijackers tried to take another car from valet operators at another restaurant on the 800 block of West Randolph around 1 p.m.
A gray Dodge Ram pulled in front of a car parked in the valet zone, and two men emerged to take the vehicle. But they found the car unoccupied without any keys inside. They returned to the truck, which happened to be stolen, and fled the area.
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