An armed man robbed a Verizon store near the Paulina Brown Line Station on Sunday evening. It appears to be related to a string of similar cellular store robberies that have been reported since May 11 in Lakeview, North Center, Bucktown, and West Town.
The man entered the store at 1654 West Roscoe around 5 p.m. and loaded a bag with phones, an employee’s watch, and other items, according to initial information. He then escaped via the alley.
The robber was described as a Black male who stands about 6-feet tall. He wore a white baseball hat, black mask, black hoodie, white gloves, and carried a bag that said “cookies” on the side, according to an officer who saw surveillance video.
Last Friday, May 27, a man wearing a ski mask entered the AT&T store at 4000 North Lincoln and displayed a handgun while announcing a robbery around 8 p.m. He collected boxes of phones from the storage room, then exited through the back door while telling an accomplice to pull around with their getaway car, according to CPD records. He was described as Black, 6’3″ tall, wearing a black hoodie.
On May 24, an armed man robbed the Verizon store at 1652 North Milwaukee in Bucktown around 7:50 p.m. He forced the store employee into the back of the store and loaded a black bag with phones. The man ordered the store worker to wait five minutes before calling 911 and then fled the scene.
Police who responded to the scene described the robber as a possibly Hispanic man wearing a mask, a blue hoodie, and black shoes.
And on May 18, an armed man robbed the AT&T store at 2006 West Chicago in West Town. He collected boxes of phones and ran out the back door around 7 p.m. That robber was described as a Black male who stands about 6’3″ tall. He wore red sweats, a black hoodie, and white shoes. Witnesses said he fled in a newer Toyota Camry that waited for him in a nearby parking lot.
A week before that, on May 11, an armed man robbed the Verizon store at 3019 North Clark in Lakeview. He confronted an employee with a handgun around 7:50 p.m. and forced the victim to the back of the store. He filled a bag with phones and fled through the rear entrance, according to police. He was described as Black, 6’2″ tall, wearing a mask and a black hoodie.