An armed robbery team robbed at least six people in less than two hours on the North Side early Saturday, Chicago police said. The cases appear to be related to an ongoing surge of similar crimes stretching from Lincoln Park to Rogers Park that have sometimes been extremely violent.
The robberies began shortly after midnight when two masked men, one of whom had a gun, stepped out of an SUV the 5500 block of North Kenmore in Edgewater. They confronted a 44-year-old man and took his phone and cash.
At 12:30 a.m., another victim robbed nearby on the 5600 block of North Kenmore.
Then, at 12:53 a.m., a gray SUV rolled up next to a woman and her boyfriend walking on the 2100 block of West Birchwood in Rogers Park. Two men got out of the car and robbed the victims, both 21-years-old, at gunpoint, a CPD spokesperson said. The crew took the couple’s phones, a wallet, and a watch, then fled in the SUV.
About 20 minutes later, back in Edgewater, an SUV stopped on the 5800 block of North Winthrop and a man got out of it with a handgun. He confronted a 53-year-old man who was walking down the street, pressed the firearm to the man’s face, and robbed him, the police spokesperson said. The victim suffered an abrasion to his left eyelid from the gun, but he refused medical attention, police said.
Then, at 1:15 a.m., someone on the driver’s side of a tan SUV tried to grab a 58-year-old woman’s property as the vehicle passed her on the 5600 block of North Broadway, the spokesperson said. They didn’t get her things and the woman tried to run away. But two men got out of the SUV, followed her, and demanded her property at gunpoint, the spokesperson said.
Then, the crew apparently moved to Lakeview. Around 1:30 a.m., a man wearing a mask entered the BP station, 841 West Irving Park Road, and one of them ordered a customer to leave the store while flashing a gun. The men left in a gray SUV bearing the same license plate as the car used in the Birchwood robbery, according to a source.
A source said a group of men who have been robbing people across the North Side since May 11 are likely responsible for Saturday’s hold-ups. The group pulled off a series of late night and early morning robberies in Lakeview and Lincoln Park, including one that ended with a 23-year-old man being critically wounded when a robber shot him three times while demanding his phone password.
The robbers moved north to Uptown and Edgewater on Tuesday.
Typically, the group pulls off a series of four to five street robberies in a concentrated area while traveling in a silver or gray SUV. They have also been seen using at least one Toyota Camry.
In a community alert issued after this story originally appeared, police said Saturday’s robbers are two Black men between 18- and 30-years-old with slim builds who wore dark clothing and black ski masks.
The alert did not publicly link the latest waves of robberies to earlier incidents in Lakeview and Lincoln Park. Police described those suspects in a May 6 community alert as Black males between 16- and 30-years-old who wear ski masks.
Previous coverage
- Man, 23, critically wounded in Lincoln Park shooting (May 6, 2022)
- Video: Armed robber shoots man 3x in Lincoln Park after demanding phone password (May 6, 2022)
- 2 nights of armed robberies across Lakeview and Lincoln Park ends with victim critically injured by gunman (May 6, 2022)
- ‘This lawlessness has to be stopped!’ Alderman demands action after a man is shot, gravely wounded during North Side robbery spree (May 6, 2022)
- Lincoln Park shooting, robbery victim is identified in GoFundMe campaign (May 6, 2022)
- Robbers who shot a man in Lincoln Park also fired shots at another victim Wednesday, CPD report says (May 7, 2022)
- Lincoln Park shooting victim is on life support, family says: ‘We ARE NOT and WILL NOT lose hope or faith for Dakotah’ (May 7, 2022)
- 2 more men robbed at gunpoint in Lincoln Park overnight (May 9, 2022)
- Another armed robbery reported in Lincoln Park, Lakeview area this morning. Witness says a gunman threatened to shoot them if they helped the victim (May 9, 2022)
- Armed crews rob 4 more people in Lakeview overnight as violent hold-up pattern grows (May 10, 2022)
- 3 more armed robberies reported on North Side as cops explore a possible link to a shooting near “The Bean” (May 11, 2022)
- Cops find ‘definitive’ link between Dakotah Earley case and a shooting near The Bean: sources (May 12, 2022)