Chicago police have released surveillance images of a man who has been robbing women in lakefront neighborhoods and escaping in a U-Haul box truck. The man has struck four times since Monday, according to the alert and CPD reports reviewed by CWBChicago.
As we reported Wednesday, the man used the victims’ credit cards to make purchases immediately after each robbery, often at Target stores.
The first robbery occurred in the 600 block of West Bittersweet in Uptown around 11:32 a.m. Monday, according to a CPD spokesperson. The man took a 62-year-old woman’s purse by force, causing her to fall to the ground. But CPD said she was not injured. According to a police report, her credit cards were used within minutes at the River North Target, 630 North LaSalle.
- He struck three times on Tuesday:
- At around 10:10 a.m., he robbed a victim in the 500 block of East Grand near Navy Pier. No further information was available about that robbery.
- About 1:30 p.m., a 72-year-old woman was standing near a vehicle in the 5900 block of North Kenmore in Edgewater. A man walked up behind her and took her purse and bag, police said. Once again, the robber escaped in a U-Haul truck that headed toward Sheridan Road.
- Around 9:39 p.m., a 49-year-old woman was targeted in the 3000 block of North Pine Grove in Lakeview. According to the police, a man approached the woman from behind and demanded her possessions. She fell to the ground as they fought over her purse, but the man eventually got it.
A witness to the third robbery chased the robber until the offender slipped into a smaller U-Haul box truck in an alley and headed toward Sheridan Road. Once again, the victim’s credit cards were used at a Target store shortly after the robbery, a CPD document said.
In a community alert issued Thursday evening, Chicago police said the robber is Black and 20- to 30-years-old. The alert said he had been seen wearing a blue, black, and gray jacket with jeans.
Anybody with information about the crimes can contact Area Three detectives at 312-744-8263 regarding crime pattern P22-3-089.