A group of armed young men committed at least nine robberies and carjackings in about 70 minutes Saturday morning, taking cars and then dumping them as they committed more crimes across Chicago and back. No arrests have been made.
The crime wave began around 6:30 a.m. with two robberies in Little Village. The crew took an Uber driver’s car with a sign on the roof similar to advertising displays on taxi cabs.
Then, the crew headed to the West Loop, where a man reported that a team of about four teenagers in a car that appeared to be a taxicab tried to hijack his vehicle in the 100 block of North Morgan around 6:40 a.m. The attempt failed.
About 15 minutes later, a driver noticed a group of young men following him in a car with a sign on its roof. When they reached the 1200 block of North Greenview, three offenders stepped out of the car with guns and tried to hijack him, the man reported. He said the gunmen chased him with their weapons drawn as he reversed down the street and escaped.
Future victims would not manage to get away:
Three males armed with guns took a newspaper delivery driver’s red Jeep in the 3400 block of North Hamilton in North Center at 7:20 a.m. They abandoned the Uber driver’s car taken in Little Village at the scene.
Moments later, three or four men exited a red Jeep and attempted to carjack a woman in the 900 block of West Newport in Boystown. The crew took the woman’s wallet, phone, and keys but left her car at the scene.
The crew traveled only two blocks to the 800 block of West Buckingham for their next heist, according to police. There, they displayed guns and took a man’s Toyota Corolla at gunpoint. They left the stolen Jeep behind with the engine running.
The hijackers bailed out of the Toyota in the 2500 block of North Orchard in Lincoln Park at 7:33 a.m. and quickly carjacked a man of his maroon 2009 Nissan Murano, according to a CPD report.
According to CPD, they drove it to Wicker Park and robbed a man at gunpoint in the 1600 block of North Marshfield around 7:36 a.m. Officers at the scene said the offenders were last seen heading west in the stolen Murano.
On Saturday afternoon, Chicago police issued a community alert about the crime spree, stating that the suspects were three or four Black males between the ages of 18 and 25, dressed in dark clothing and wearing ski masks.
However, several victims stated that the robbers appeared to be very young, possibly under the age of 15. According to witnesses, at least three of the robbers were armed.
Anyone with information about the crimes can call detectives at 312-744-8263 about crime pattern P22-CWP-016.
