8 women robbed in 11 minutes overnight as Lincoln Park robbery problem grows and grows

The approximate locations of Tuesday’s robberies (red) and other recent holdups in the area. | Multiplottr

CHICAGO — Eight more women were robbed in about eleven minutes overnight in Lincoln Park, according to Chicago police, as a weeks-long robbery pattern continues to plague the neighborhood.

As in earlier sprees, the crew started their evening by stealing a car in another part of the city to serve as a getaway vehicle. In this case, a silver Toyota RAV4 was carjacked in the 300 block of West Cermak on Monday night.

The Lincoln Park robbery spree began a short time later:

  • At 12:07 a.m., two women were robbed in the 2000 block of North Howe by two men who arrived in a light-colored SUV, police said. The women, ages 26 and 27, did not see a gun, according to CPD.
  • At 12:15 a.m., a man exited a silver SUV and robbed a 23-year-old woman in the 800 block of West Belden. Once again, no weapon was seen, police said.
  • At 12:18 a.m., two 19-year-old women were robbed in the 2200 block of North Burling. They told police that two men exited a silver SUV and demanded their valuables. No gun was seen, according to CPD.
  • Three women were robbed in the 2200 block of North Geneva Terrace around the same time. Two male robbers fled in a silver SUV. Police said one of the victims was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in good condition after she fell during the holdup.

The robbers were described as Black men in their mid-to-late 20s. They wore masks and hoodies and sometimes held their hands under the hoodies to imply they had guns.

Three women were robbed in the same neighborhood on Friday. Chicago police said a 30-year-old man was targeted as he walked in the 2100 block of North Halsted around 1:25 a.m. The robber punched him in the face, took items from his hands, and fled the scene.

At about the same time, two women were robbed in the 1300 block of West Wrightwood. The women, ages 29 and 33, said two men got out of a car and asked for a lighter, then robbed them at gunpoint, an officer said.

Both robbers fled in a stolen black four-door sedan. They were described as Black men about 6 feet tall. One wore a durag, and the other had short dreadlocks.

(Update 10:03 a.m. — CWBChicago has learned that Chicago police arrested one suspect who bailed out of the RAV4 in the 4200 block of West Monroe around 1:16 a.m. We will continue to monitor developments.)

Here are details of other recent robberies in the area:

Monday, June 12, 4:23 p.m.
A 26-year-old woman told police she was robbed while walking in the 600 block of West Armitage. The robber approached her from behind, pushed her, and took her phone. Then he escaped in a white four-door sedan, according to a CPD spokesperson.

Monday, June 12, 4:32 p.m.
Another woman was targeted as she walked in the 2200 block of North Geneva Terrace. The 30-year-old said the offender came up from behind and took her phone. He also fled in a white sedan, police said.

Thursday, June 22, 11:30 p.m.
Chicago police said a 76-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman were standing in the 2200 block of North Cleveland when two robbers walked up and said they had a gun. They demanded the victims’ property but ran away after the man swung his briefcase at them, a CPD spokesperson said.

Thursday, June 22, 11:35 p.m.
A man and woman were robbed in the 400 block of West Grant. They told police they were walking when two male robbers confronted them and implied they had a firearm, police said. The victims handed over their property to the offenders, who ran eastbound.

Thursday, June 22, approximately 11:35 p.m.
A robbery was reported in the 700 block of West Belden. No other details were available.

Thursday, June 29, 12:10 a.m.
A dark SUV blocked the path of a woman as she drove near Belden and Geneva Terrace. A gunman exited the SUV and confronted the woman. After robbing her of her belongings, he drove away with her car, police said.

Thursday, June 29, 12:35 a.m.
A woman was robbed on the street in the 1000 block of West Armitage. No further information was available at the time of publication.

Thursday, June 29, 12:43 a.m.
Two vehicles pulled up next to a man sitting in his car in the 1400 block of West Fullerton. He said two men got out of each vehicle and displayed a firearm. The group “began to damage the victim’s vehicle from the outside,” a CPD spokesperson said, and a fight broke out when the victim’s friend showed up to help him.

An officer at the scene said the men broke out all of the victim’s car windows but didn’t get anything from him. They fled in one of the vehicles they drove to the scene, leaving behind a Nissan Rogue carjacked from the 300 block of West 24th Street. The Rogue may have also been used in the robbery above.

Thursday, June 29, 12:45 a.m.
A DePaul student was robbed in the 2200 block of North Fremont. She was walking when a man demanded her property while armed with a weapon. She said she thought the weapon may have been a Tazer because she heard a crackling noise, the school’s public safety office said in an email to the DePaul community. The school’s message said the robbery occurred in the 900 block of West Webster.

Tips can be shared with Area Three detectives at 312-744-8263. Refer to crime pattern P23-3-041C.

Since late May, many other robberies reported in the area were not included in CPD’s newest alert. Including:

  • On June 12, a 19-year-old DePaul student was walking in the 2200 block of North Lincoln when a robber came up behind him around 4:30 p.m., according to CPD. He told police that the robber implied that he had a gun and demanded his property, which the victim turned over.
  • A little before 11 p.m. on May 28, a woman called 911 to report that two men tried to rob her and a friend as they sat on a bench in Oz Park. The woman who called for help bolted from the park, leaving her friend behind.
  • About 20 minutes later, a 26-year-old woman was knocked to the ground and robbed in the 2200 block of North Sheffield, according to CPD. The offender escaped in a light-colored vehicle.
  • Two DePaul students, ages 19 and 20, were robbed at gunpoint in the 1300 block of West Fullerton around 4:15 a.m. on May 29. The men were walking when two offenders exited a black car to rob them. After the holdup, the victims went to University Hall, a DePaul residence hall, and a security officer called 911, identifying them as students.
  • A 37-year-old woman was carjacked by two men who implied they had weapons at 11:39 p.m. on May 29, police said. She was getting into her car in the 2300 block of North Halsted, directly in front of DePaul’s School of Music building, when they took her black Volkswagen Jetta.
  • On June 1, four young women were robbed while walking together in Lincoln Park shortly after midnight in the 700 block of West Webster, Chicago police said. A robber punched one woman in the face. One of them tried to run away, but she fell to the ground, and a robber grabbed her buttocks, then proceeded with the robbery, police said.

Original reporting you’ll see nowhere else, paid for by our readers.
Click here to support our work.

About Tim Hecke 5786 Articles
Tim Hecke is CWBChicago's managing partner. He started his career at KMOX, the legendary news radio station in St. Louis. From there, he moved on to work at stations in Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Tim went on to build syndicated radio news and content services that served every one of America's 100 largest radio markets. He became CWBChicago's managing partner in 2019. He can be reached at tim@cwbchicago.com