Chicago police now say an armed robbery crew abducted three people during separate incidents in Wrigleyville over the weekend. And, a woman contacted CWBChicago to say that she believes one of her relatives was similarly targeted in the neighborhood last weekend.
“They need to be caught. These guys are professionals,” the woman said, explaining that the man she knew was abducted near Clark and Addison by two armed men on Saturday, October 8. She said they drove him around the neighborhood and took his phone and wallet.
The crew “cleared out his bank accounts within hours,” the woman continued. “Very sad.”
Officially, CPD is linking three robberies to the crime pattern, all from this past weekend. According to a community alert from Area Three detectives, two occurred early Sunday and one early on Saturday.
In the alert, CPD said the victims “enter the offenders’ vehicle” and are then driven away and robbed. The bulletin said that one of the three victims was forced into a car at gunpoint.
But a CPD spokesperson on Sunday said two victims were put into cars at gunpoint, and the woman who spoke with us said a gun was used last weekend.
After arriving at a second location, the victims are robbed and forced from the car.
According to the police alert, the victims were targeted in the 3500 block of North Clark at 12:15 a.m. Saturday, the 3400 block of North Clark at midnight Sunday, and the 1100 block of West Addison at 1:15 a.m. Sunday.
The first victim on Sunday, a 27-year-old man, told Chicago police he was walking in the 3500 block of North Clark around 1 a.m. when two robbers forced him into a gray sedan at gunpoint, a CPD spokesperson said. He said the offenders drove him around the neighborhood and took his wallet and phone before forcing him out of the vehicle near the L tracks on Grace Street.
While police were interviewing the victim, a 23-year-old man walked up to report that he had also been abducted and robbed.
He said he was outside Taco Bell Cantina, 1107 West Addison, when a man forced him into a gray sedan at gunpoint around 1:15 a.m., police said. The offenders drove the man around the area, took his iPhone and wallet, then let him go.
The suspects are Black males between 25- and 32-years-old who wear dark clothing. Sunday’s victims and the woman said a gray sedan was involved, possibly a Honda Accord.
Anyone with information about the crimes can contact detectives at 312-744-8263 regarding crime pattern P22-3-070A.