Chicago — Two juvenile boys have been charged with participating in a robbery spree Friday morning that stretched from Bucktown to the Near West Side. The area has been hard-hit by similar robbery sprees since mid-November, and the crimes keep happening even though police have made several arrests.
The first robbery on Friday occurred around 7:45 a.m. outside a bank in the 3300 block of West Diversey. Officials said three men robbed a 29-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman, then fled in a black SUV with duct tape covering one of its back side windows.
Then, around 12:45 p.m., offenders confronted a woman with a handgun and tried to take her car in the 2300 block of West Lyndale, a CPD report said. But the crew decided not to hijack the vehicle because the woman’s child was in the back seat. The offenders fled in a car that had tape or a bag covering one of its back windows.
About 15 minutes later, a 55-year-old woman was robbed at a bank in the 2100 block of West Madison.
Chicago police tracked down the robbers and took them into custody in the 3700 block of West Douglas around 1:30 p.m. Two guns were recovered inside their vehicle, which had been reported stolen.
CPD said a 15-year-old boy is charged with three counts of armed robbery, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of burglary tools, and criminal trespass to a vehicle. A 17-year-old is charged with two counts of armed robbery, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and criminal trespass to a vehicle. The older boy also had an outstanding warrant, according to police.
For about a month, armed crews have unleashed nearly 100 robberies during increasingly frequent crime sprees, with Chicago’s near west, northwest, and north sides being especially hard-hit.
Last Monday, Chicago police arrested a four-man crew that officials said was responsible for some of the robberies. They’re all being held without bail.
A concealed carry holder shot three members of a four-person robbery team that allegedly tried to rob him on December 5. Charges have been filed against three members of that group, and the fourth remains hospitalized after receiving a gunshot wound to his head.