Chicago — Groups of armed men robbed at least eight victims during two waves of crime stretching from Wicker Park and Humboldt Park to the Lower West Side on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, according to Chicago police reports. Despite several arrests, the same areas have been hit repeatedly by similar robbery sprees since mid-November.
As in many of the previous incidents, the robberies generally involved three or four men who emerged from a stolen Hyundai with a broken rear side window.
On Monday, four masked men robbed a man in the 1300 block of North Spaulding around 8:15 p.m. A short time later, two masked robbers put a gun to a man’s head during a holdup in the 3200 block of West Walnut, according to police reports.
Another wave of robberies unfolded Tuesday morning:
- A 74-year-old man was inside his car in the 2100 block of West 18th Street when a vehicle pulled up and two robbers got out to confront the victim with a firearm around 9:09 a.m., police said.
- About nine minutes later, three men were robbed in the 2300 block of West Rice, according to CPD. A 67-year-old man was parking a truck while two other men, ages 19 and 63, stood outside watching for traffic, police said. A gray SUV, possibly a Hyundai Tuscon, rolled up and two men emerged with firearms to demand money from the men on the street. The gunmen then opened the truck’s doors and took money from the third victim, a CPD spokesperson said.
- Four masked men tried to rob a work crew in the 2800 block of West Warren around 9:25 a.m., but the victims had nothing to give and the crew left empty-handed.
- About 10 minutes after that, two men jumped out of the car with a gun and demanded money from a man near the 1400 block of North Hoyne. The man told them he didn’t have anything to give them, and the offenders searched the man, according to a CPD report. They didn’t find anything.
The gray Hyundai that was seen at Tuesday’s robberies had been recently stolen from the 4100 block of West Adams, according to CPD records.
Before the latest incidents, the most recent robbery spree occurred on December 28 when at least 9 holdups were reported from Little Village to Logan Square. A surveillance camera caught the crew at work as they targeted a food truck in the 3800 block of West Cortland that morning:
Chicago police found the crew’s stolen Kia in an alley behind the 800 block of North Monticello around about 30 minutes after the food truck robbery. Officers found proceeds from several robbery victims inside the car. A 17-year-old was charged in connection with the video-recorded robbery, but his accomplices escaped, including the one seen wearing a “Yogi Bear” jacket, CWB Chicago reported.
For more than a month, armed crews unleashed over 100 robberies during frequent crime sprees, with Chicago’s near west, northwest, and north sides being especially hard-hit.
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.
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