Police are investigating three armed robberies that occurred in less than 45 minutes last night in Lakeview and North Center. The crimes may be related to similar hold-ups in Wicker Park on Saturday, and a spree that left one victim shot in Edgewater last week.
Here’s the latest:
Around 10:50 p.m. Monday, a homeowner in the 3600 block of North Hermitage Avenue called 911 because two men were knocking on his front door, claiming they had been robbed at gunpoint.
A CPD spokesperson said officers responded and met with the victims, ages 23 and 31, who said they were robbed by a group of three armed men while walking in the 1600 block of West Waveland Avenue minutes earlier. According to the victims, a dark sedan pulled up, and the robbers got out, holding guns, and took their property.
The crew made the men surrender their phone PINs, then got back into the car, which fled north in an alley.
Another man was robbed similarly around 11:17 p.m. in the 3100 block of North Damen Avenue, the CPD spokesperson said. The 35-year-old said he was outside when two or three men demanded his property, and one of them struck him in the head with a handgun. They took the man’s property and fled, but the victim was unsure if they traveled in a vehicle.
Around the same time, three men robbed a man at gunpoint in the 3600 block of North Marshfield. According to the victim, two offenders pointed guns at him, stole his bookbag and wallet, and fled in a white sedan. Officers arrived and spoke with the victim’s mother, but they could not complete a report because the victim had left the scene.
The victims all said the robbers were Black males who wore masks and black clothing.
Police responded to at least two similar robberies in Wicker Park on Saturday night. In one incident, a 36-year-old man was walking in the 1900 block of West Wabansia Avenue when a white sedan pulled up, and three men got out with handguns, according to a police spokesperson. They robbed him and escaped in the sedan.
Around the same time, a man and a woman were robbed in the 1700 block of North Winchester Avenue. That robbery was recorded by surveillance cameras, which WGN news aired on Monday evening. Watch it here:
The video shows three men getting out of a white sedan to confront the couple, who tried to run away but didn’t get far.
Last week, a group of three masked and armed men robbed five people, shooting one of them, in Edgewater and Boystown, according to CPD.
At around 12:05 a.m. on August 17, two men, ages 19 and 30, were walking in the 1000 block of West Balmoral Avenue when three masked gunmen approached from behind and ordered them to lie on the ground, CPD spokesperson Kellie Bartoli said. The robbers took the victims’ property, ordered them to run in opposite directions, and then escaped in a silver car.
Around the same time, two more men were robbed in the 1000 block of West Bryn Mawr Avenue. Bartoli said the victims, ages 31 and 43, were outside when a silver car pulled up, and three gunmen wearing ski masks emerged from the vehicle.
The crew demanded the victims’ belongings before fleeing south on Winthrop in the silver car.
Then, at around 12:20 a.m., they confronted a 44-year-old man outside his apartment building in the 5400 block of North Winthrop. One of the robbers shot the victim in his right thigh, and another kicked the victim. They escaped in a silver car that headed south. EMS took the victim to St. Francis Hospital.
Finally, the group tried to carjack a man at gunpoint in the 600 block of West Addison around 12:27 a.m., according to CPD.
In a community alert issued later that morning, Chicago police said the robbers were three Black males between 18- and 30-years-old who wore ski masks. The alert said one wore a gray hoodie, and another wore an orange or red hoodie.
Anyone with information about the crimes can contact Area Three detectives at 312-744-8263 regarding crime pattern P22-3-057.
Please support CWBChicago’s reporting efforts with a contribution or subscription.