Chicago police are investigating after two couples were robbed at gunpoint in Lincoln Park within 30 minutes on Monday night.
First, a dark SUV pulled up on the 400 block of West Arlington, and three or four men wearing ski masks got out while displaying a firearm, said Kellie Bartoli, a Chicago police spokesperson.
A man and woman, both 31, were sitting in a nearby car when two of the robbers slid into their back seat and demanded the victims’ belongings around 10:50 p.m. Following the robbery, the offenders returned to the SUV and drove south on Lakeview Avenue.
Then, around 11:10 p.m., three masked men approached a couple from behind in the 2000 block of North Orleans. Bartoli said one of the offenders displayed a gun and ordered the victims to the ground. The 26-year-old woman and 27-year-old man complied.
After taking property from the victims, the robbers fled south in a dark SUV with tinted windows, Bartoli said. She said the getaway vehicles may have been a Mitsubishi Outlander or Nissan Murano. The police did not release descriptions of the robbers.
Police have not publicly linked the crimes, but given the similarities, it is possible that the same group is responsible for both hold-ups.
The Lincoln Park community area, which includes much of Old Town, saw 110 robberies this year through November 7. That’s generally in line with the ten-year average but higher than recent years.
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