Chicago — It has happened again. And again. A group of armed men, including one carrying a rifle, robbed at least eight people and carjacked a vehicle during two incidents in Pilsen on Sunday morning, according to Chicago police sources.
Chicago police have repeatedly warned about an armed crew robbing and carjacking people, often while displaying at least one rifle and other handguns. CWB Chicago reported an earlier robbery by the group on Saturday.
There are now two more cases. During one heist, the crew held up two street food vendors and their customers. They also robbed and carjacked another group of people a few blocks away in an incident captured on video.
The video, which was tweeted by CPD1617Scanner on Sunday, shows a blue Hyundai coming to a stop in the 2100 block of West 18th Street shortly before 8 a.m. Three men emerged from the car, two armed with handguns and one with a rifle, and robbed a group of victims on the sidewalk.
As the victims held their hands in the air, the crew searched them for valuables at gunpoint. Then they stole one victim’s SUV, which can be seen curbside. Watch:
The Hyundai and carjacked 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee headed west on 18th Street after the crime. Officers at the scene said one of the robbers was a Black male with a red ink tattoo on his forehead.
Moments later, the same group robbed at least five victims who were gathered around food vendors in the 2100 block of South Damen, according to Chicago police. Two gunmen took cash, phones, and other items from the victims and fled in the blue car, according to police.
Officers said there were more victims, but some left before police arrived.
In a similar robbery on January 5, a man was stripped of his valuables outside a convenience store in Bridgeport. Watch:
Street vendors in Pilsen and Little Village have also been hard-hit by street robbers lately.
Last month, local Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez (25th) “demanded” police to end the vendor robberies. Yet, paradoxically, just three months ago, Sigcho Lopez openly stated in the City Council that he wanted fewer police in his ward.
During a budget hearing for the Chicago Police Department in October, several aldermen asked CPD Supt. David Brown to assign more officers to their wards. And one alderman, Matt O’Shea (19th), asked his colleagues to raise their hands if they wanted fewer police officers.
Sigcho Lopez’s hand was the only one that went up. He then started to walk out of the hearing as other aldermen shouted that they would take the cops he didn’t want.
“Take the white supremacists, too,” Sigcho Lopez yelled before heading out the door. He was referring to a decision by Brown not to fire a cop who allegedly has ties to the Proud Boys.
