CHICAGO — For the past few weeks, we have reported almost daily about yet another robbery spree on the North or Near West sides of Chicago in which four, six, or eight victims were robbed in a short time.
We have more to tell you about today. Candidly, there were so many armed robberies in our primary coverage area overnight, we simply cannot reliably tell you how many occurred. Conservatively, we can say 20 armed robberies occurred. We believe the number may ultimately be more than 25.
Chicago police investigators believe at least three different crews were at work last night, a source said. No arrests have been made.
Like all the previous sprees, last night’s robberies involved three to five masked men armed with multiple firearms who jumped out of vehicles (usually stolen) to rob people on the streets.
Here are a couple of cases that stood out as we reviewed the reports:
A little before 4 a.m., at least five armed men exited a black Chrysler 300 and robbed several people of phones and wallets near Taco Bell, 1107 West Addison, in Wrigleyville. The police report documenting the case was not finalized as of Sunday afternoon.
At 4:19 a.m., five gunmen exited a BMW X5 and robbed five men in the 6400 block of North Oakley in West Ridge, a CPD spokesperson said. One of the robbers also robbed a nearby business. Then, they all fled in the BMW.
In a community alert issued Sunday, detectives linked the following holdups to one group of men:
- Three men with two guns exited a gray SUV and carjacked a man of his Acura MDX in the 3600 block of North California at 12:12 a.m.
- A group of men robbed a victim in the 3200 block of West Montrose at 1:58 a.m.
- At 3:17 a.m., three gunmen robbed a man in the 4500 block of North Keokuk.
- In the 2300 block of North California, at 5 a.m., a group of men battered and robbed a woman.
- Another victim was robbed by three armed men in the 3100 block of West North Avenue at 5:10 a.m.
Police said that the robbery crew consisted of three Black males between 18 and 25 years old who wore black ski masks.
Later on Sunday, police linked another set of robberies to a second group:
- At about 12:15 a.m., three men robbed a woman at gunpoint in the 2800 block of West Chicago Avenue
- Five gunmen pulled up to a woman in the 4000 block of North Damen and put a gun to her face as they took her purse and phone around 1:30 a.m.
- At about the same time, three gunmen robbed a man in the 4600 block of North Ravenswood.
- Another robbery was reported around the same time in the 4700 block of North Ravenswood.
CPD said this robbery crew consisted of slim Black males between 15 and 30 years old armed with black semi-automatic handguns.
Other robberies were reported in the 1900 block of North Leavitt around 7:50 p.m. Saturday and in the 300 block of North Hoyne a couple of hours later.
At about 1:15 a.m. Sunday, four or five men robbed another woman near Ashland and Chicago Avenue.
A woman walking near Rockwell and North Avenue was robbed by three men who jumped out of a car around 2:40 a.m. Another woman was targeted just before 3 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Kedzie.
Back north, four armed men robbed a victim in the 2000 block of West Peterson around 4 a.m.
A Blommer Chocolate Company employee was robbed at gunpoint outside the beloved company’s factory at 600 West Kinzie.
In the Loop, two robberies were reported in the 3 o’clock hour, according to initial information. And CPD confirmed reports were filed for robberies in the 400 block of South Federal at 4:40 a.m. and the 700 block of South Michigan at 4:55 a.m. On Michigan, a man told police that a Jeepload of gunmen pointed firearms at him, but he sped away before they could get anything. And another armed robbery occurred in the 1200 block of South Wabash around 5:05 a.m., CPD said.
The BMW crew struck again in the 1200 block of South Wabash around 5:10 a.m.
Citywide robbery reports were up 14% as of July 2, sitting at a five-year high. There are no indications that those numbers will start looking better any time soon.