An armed robbery crew apparently fired a shot toward a victim in River North overnight, just hours after a similar crew robbed a man in the West Loop.
The robberies are similar to a string of similar robberies in the same areas and on the North Side, including one last week in Lincoln Park in which three masked robbers fired a shot at a man. That crime was caught on camera.
Around 2 o’clock this morning, police responded to multiple 911 calls, mostly from passing motorists, of men with guns and shots fired on the 300 block of West Ohio.
Police searched the area and found a man who reported that he had been robbed at gunpoint by three men wearing ski masks. Two of the men put guns to his head and took his wallet and phone, the man reported.
They also fired a shot at him, but missed, according to initial information from the scene. A CPD spokesperson said the official police report was still being finalized as of Wednesday morning.
In the West Loop, a 42-year-old man told police he was walking on the 1200 block of West Randolph when a black SUV, possibly a Jeep, rolled up around 10:10 p.m. Tuesday.
He said three men stepped out of the car, displayed guns, and took property from his pockets and his wristwatch, police said. The crew fled north in the SUV, according to a police spokesperson.
Last Thursday, a group of armed robbers shot at a man near the Armitage Brown Line station and then committed two more robberies in nearby Lakeview, Chicago police said. It all happened within about 20 minutes, starting at 5:30 a.m.
That’s when three robbers jumped out of a gray four-door car and confronted a 31-year-old man who was walking in the 2000 block of North Lincoln in Lincoln Park. One of the offenders displayed a gun and demanded the man’s property, but the victim ran toward Armitage Avenue instead, said Kellie Bartoli, a CPD spokesperson.
He told police he heard a loud noise as he bolted for safety. Cops found a shell casing at the scene and the gunfire can be heard in this doorbell video of the robbery:
According to Bartoli, the group got back into the car, which was possibly a Toyota, and drove west in the alley behind Armitage.
Then, between 5:45 and 5:50 a.m., two men approached a 23-year-old woman from behind as she walked in the 1100 block of West Wellington in Lakeview. They displayed guns and demanded her property, Bartoli said.
The victim complied, and the robbers, who wore ski masks, escaped in a black four-door sedan that was waiting for them nearby. It headed west on Wellington.
Finally, a dark-colored sedan carrying four people pulled over in the 1300 block of West Fletcher at 5:55 a.m. A man emerged from the back passenger-side door with a handgun and confronted a 27-year-old woman who was walking nearby.
On Monday morning, a man was shot during an apparent robbery attempt on the 400 block of East Erie, police said. The gunman escaped in a white Nissan Murano that headed toward Lake Shore Drive with two other occupants.
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