CHICAGO — A carload of armed men committed at least four robberies and carjackings on Thursday night, pulling off all of the crimes in about 30 minutes, according to Chicago police reports.
Traveling in a freshly-stolen red Kia Forte, the crew started its spree around 11:10 p.m. in the 1700 block of West Erie in West Town. Three men displayed two guns and took a man’s keys and cash.
A few minutes later, they robbed a 26-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman in the 1400 block of West Hubbard in the West Loop.
The couple told police they were outside when a red SUV carrying three people pulled up, and two masked men got out of the vehicle with guns, a Chicago police spokesperson said.
Officers found the victims’ property in a nearby alley.
A similar robbery unfolded in the 1600 block of West Ohio around 11:30 p.m. Two men got out of a red SUV and robbed a woman on the street, according to a police report.
Next, a 49-year-old man was carjacked in the 2200 block of West Hubbard.
The CPD spokesperson said the victim was outside when four men pulled up in a burgundy SUV around 11:42 p.m. A man wearing a red ski mask got out of the SUV, displayed a gun, and took the man’s property. Then he drove away with the victim’s BMW X-3, which was parked nearby, according to police.
Cops tracked the BMW’s location and found it abandoned in the 300 block of North Francisco within an hour.
The victims provided the same general descriptions of the offenders: young, skinny Black males who wore masks and hoodies.
All of the crimes occurred in the Near West (12th) Police District, where robbery reports are up 36% compared to this time last year. The district’s robberies are also up 36% compared to 2019 and even more when compared to 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic drove down crime reports.