Chicago police are investigating a string of armed robberies reported late Tuesday night and early Wednesday in Uptown. Another robbery linked to some of the Uptown crimes may have occurred in Streeterville, too. It’s the second night in a row that armed robbers have targeted multiple victims on the North Side.
The first two hold-ups occurred around 11:10 a.m. in the 800 block of West Sunnyside, police said.
Two women parked their car and were getting out when a vehicle pulled up, and three men got out with a handgun. The robbers took the victims’ laptops, phones, and other property, then fled.
Just steps away, a 36-year-old man was robbed after parking his car on the same block. He was getting ready to get out of the car when two men walked up and robbed him at gunpoint, a CPD spokesperson said. Both robbers fled in a gray sedan.
Chicago police began tracking the getaway car, a silver Honda Accord with Florida license plates, via the city’s license plate reader network. An officer radioed that the vehicle entered Lake Shore Drive southbound at Montrose, then exited the drive at Ohio around 11:35 p.m.
Moments later, a 911 caller reported that they saw a group of men get out of a white sedan and rob someone near the corner of Ohio and McClurg, according to CPD dispatch audio. Officers searched the area but did not find a victim or the robbers’ vehicle. A police spokesperson said that they had not seen a report of a robbery at the Streeterville location as of midday Wednesday.
Then, a little after 1 a.m., a 33-year-old man was robbed in the 5000 block of Kenmore, also in Uptown. Police said he was walking when a white sedan pulled alongside him, and three robbers emerged from the vehicle wearing ski masks and displaying firearms.
They demanded the man’s valuables, then headed north in their getaway car.
On Monday evening, four people were robbed in two separate incidents in Lincoln Park:
- Three or four men wearing ski masks armed with a firearm exited a dark SUV and robbed a couple sitting in a car in the 400 block of West Arlington around 10:50 p.m.
- Around 11:10 p.m., three masked men approached a couple from behind in the 2000 block of North Orleans and robbed them at gunpoint. The robbers fled in a dark SUV with tinted windows.
Chicago police have not publicly drawn links between any of the crimes. However, there are indications that a nighttime robbery pattern is emerging.
