Police are investigating two more robberies in Lincoln Park and nearby Lakeview that have been reported since Saturday evening. One of them appears to be part of a growing pattern of crimes committed by a group that steals cars and mugs women in the area.
Around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, a woman was pushed against a wall by three masked men who took her purse near the intersection of Surf and Broadway. Witnesses said the robbers fled in a silver SUV.
Earlier Saturday afternoon, two women were mugged in nearby Lincoln Park by men who escaped in a stolen silver Dodge Durango. Saturday’s robberies are all believed to be part of a growing pattern that first emerged earlier this month.
The pattern involves two or three Black males between 15- and 25-years-old who use stolen cars to mug women who are walking on sidewalks during the afternoon and early evening hours.
Nearly all of the robberies occurred in a small section of Lincoln Park bounded by Fullerton, Diversey, Clark, and Lakeview Avenue.
But there were indications yesterday that the robbers may have been testing the waters north of Diversey. Just minutes before two women were robbed in Lincoln Park, a witness called 911 to report that two men were behaving suspiciously near Pine Grove and Wellington, just across the neighborhood border in Lakeview. He said he thought they were going to rob people. Police did not find the men, but the Lincoln Park robberies unfolded minutes later.
Another robbery was reported overnight in Lincoln Park. And, while it has some similarities to the crime pattern, there are also many differences.
Around 2:15 a.m., police responded to an auto theft that just occurred on the 800 block of West Belmont. The stolen car, a gray Hyundai, was used about an hour later by three masked offenders who robbed a 23-year-old man at gunpoint on the 2400 block of North Orchard.
So far, police have not announced any arrests.