Chicago — A huge wave of armed robberies rolled across Chicago, starting in Lincoln Park and Old Town on Wednesday evening, then reaching Bucktown, Logan Square, and beyond early this morning. At least 14 victims were targeted.
It’s the second night in a row that armed robbery crews have committed strings of holdups, raising concerns that a terrifying crime pattern that essentially went dormant for several weeks has reemerged.
The latest crime wave began around 8:40 p.m. in the 1500 block of West Altgeld in Lincoln Park. Three armed men who stepped out of a red SUV with Florida plates robbed a woman and her two friends at gunpoint, according to the preliminary information.
One of the victims’ phones was later tracked to the areas of subsequent robberies, leading at least one officer who spoke with CWB Chicago to conclude that the crew was responsible for other crimes.
Next, a 39-year-old woman was carjacked at gunpoint in the 500 block of West Menomonee in Old Town around 8:50 p.m., according to a Chicago police spokesperson. The woman was getting something out of her car when a black sedan pulled up, and an armed man got out to demand her keys. She complied, and the offender drove away with her black Audi A4, police said.
At around 10:20 p.m., two men were robbed at gunpoint outside Carnivale, a restaurant at 702 West Fulton Market. Police said the victims, ages 25 and 27, were walking when a red SUV pulled up, and three gunmen got out with guns to take their property.
Then, a group of armed men in a white SUV, possibly a Mazda, pulled off a string of robberies. According to initial information, those crimes began in the 3300 block of West Dickens and the 4100 block of West Barry a little before 10:30 p.m.
Around 11:10 p.m., three armed men chased and robbed a man in the 1600 block of North Spaulding in Logan Square. They fled in the white SUV.
About 10 minutes later, a group of men in a black SUV pulled up next to a woman who was parking in the 2600 block of West Thomas and announced a robbery.
Around 12:45 a.m. Thursday, four men robbed a man at gunpoint near Western and Bloomindale in Humboldt Park. They fled in a white SUV.
Minutes later, a woman waiting for Illinois State Police to show up to an accident scene was robbed by three men who exited a red SUV in the 1700 block of South Union, another Chicago police report said.
A 25-year-old man was robbed in the 2000 block of West McLean in Bucktown around 1 a.m., according to CPD. Four men got out of a white Mazda SUV with handguns and took his phone, police said.
Finally, around 1 a.m., four men in a white SUV robbed a man at gunpoint in the 2200 block of North Hoyne.
In reports reviewed by CWB Chicago, nearly all of the victims described the robbers as young, skinny Black males who wore hoodies and carried more than one firearm.
Similar waves of robberies struck the same areas time and time again between mid-November and February. But police made several arrests, and the holdups became less frequent.
Yet, the robbery sprees have returned recently, including Wednesday morning and Sunday. Chicago police warned the public about a three-robbery spree that unfolded in Humboldt Park yesterday afternoon.
In those cases, police said, three men traveling in a 2020 Hyundai Tuscon with license plate CV47270 robbed victims in the 1500 block of North Kedzie at 12:35 p.m., the 2600 block of West Thomas at 1:29 p.m., and the 1300 block of North Rockwell at 1:38 p.m.