Chicago — A couple of purse thieves stared down Chicago police in the Loop on Tuesday afternoon, then sped away in a stolen Tesla. And a CWBChicago reader caught it on video.
Just after 2:30 p.m., two men stole purses from women who were dining at Urbanspace, a food hall at 15 West Washington, according to witnesses.
The video shows the men climbing into a black Tesla right outside Macy’s on State Street as two Chicago police officers try to stop them.
Watch the video closely, and you’ll see the officer on the driver’s side bending down to pick up one of the stolen purses from the pavement before the Tesla drives away. Watch:
The cops order the Tesla’s occupants to put their hands on the dashboard, and one of the officers has his gun drawn, but the Tesla’s driver speeds away as backup units arrive. He turned west on Randolph Street with a police car right behind him. CPD radio transmissions show that the police stopped following the Tesla after the driver ran a red light at LaSalle.
According to CPD records, the Tesla was stolen from the Roseland neighborhood on November 9. Witnesses said the thieves are two Black males between 20- and 30-years-old. One of them was carrying a Potbelly sandwich bag.
Similar thefts of phones, wallets, and purses from restaurant patrons have been picking up across the city.
In late October, a theft team struck the dining room at Labriola on the Magnificent Mile. Last month, a slick two-man team stole a woman’s purse from a Wicker Park taco shop. A CWBChicago reader shared video of that incident.
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