Another wave of armed robberies rolled across the city overnight, leaving at least 12 victims in its wake. Among the victims are a tourist visiting the Mag Mile, two people riding in a pedicab on Wacker Drive in the Loop, a man walking in Boystown, and an employee leaving work at a popular West Town bar.
Police believe some of the robberies are linked to another string of hold-ups that unfolded the night before in Streeterville.
Wednesday’s robberies began at 12:05 a.m. on the 300 block of North Green in the West Loop. A 42-year-old man was walking when a white SUV with Florida plates pulled up, and three men stepped out of it with handguns, a CPD spokesperson said.
They took the victim’s belongings and one of the robbers punched the man in his face. The three then returned to the SUV and headed north on Green. Two people who were leaving work at a nearby restaurant said the men pointed guns at them, but did not take anything.
Witnesses said the vehicle may have been a white Nissan SUV, possibly the same vehicle used in Tuesday’s robberies.
Minutes later, four men who traveled in a white SUV robbed a victim of their phone, backpack, and wallet on Grand Avenue, just west of Milwaukee.
Then, three people were reported in about 10 minutes downtown.
At 12:25 a.m., a white SUV pulled up next to a bike taxi on the 300 block of East Wacker Drive. Three masked men in the SUV took the victims’ property at gunpoint, then drove away. The victims, a 31-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man, were not injured, the CPD spokesperson said.
Ten minutes later, a 33-year-old tourist was robbed as she walked on Grand Avenue just east of State Street. She told police that a robber jumped out of a dark SUV and pointed a black handgun at her head around 12:35 a.m., the spokesperson continued. After giving the man her valuables, the victim went to her nearby hotel to get help.
Then, a 27-year-old man told police that a white SUV pulled up next to him on the 3200 block of North Broadway in Boystown around 2:50 a.m. Two robbers stepped out of the vehicle and pointed guns at the man’s head while demanding his property, the police spokesperson said.
Another string of robberies was reported between about 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
Three masked robbers targeted a man and his friend near Milwaukee and Armitage in Logan Square. The robbers escaped in a dark SUV that may have been taken in a carjacking on the 2100 block of West Dickens in Bucktown over the weekend, according to a report.
Around the same time, two people were robbed as they sat in a car on the 1100 block of North Western. A dark SUV pulled up and three men opened the victim’s car door. They took the victims’ backpacks, which contained a laptop, wallet, money, and keys to a nearby bar.
The last two robberies of the night unfolded a little further south.
A man told police he was carjacked at gunpoint and physically attacked as he headed to work on the 1600 block of West 21st Street by four men who arrived in a dark SUV. They took his 2006 Lexus sedan.
Another man, age 35, was pistol-whipped and robbed by at least five men who arrived in two vehicles on the 2300 block of South Halsted, a CPD report said. The offenders took his phone and other property, then fled the area.
The victims generally described the robbers as groups of Black males between 15- and 25-years-old who wore masks and hoodies.