CHICAGO — A 17-year-old boy arrested after robbing a Walgreens in Andersonville has been linked to five additional robberies, including a carjacking, this week, Chicago police said Wednesday. Police separately announced that a 19-year-old man helped him commit some of the crimes.
Around 5 p.m. Monday, the boy and his alleged accomplice, Tyler Shields, carjacked a 45-year-old man of a 2024 Audi Q5 in the 6000 block of South Peoria and then used the vehicle on a crosstown crime spree, according to the allegations.
About two hours later, a 911 caller reported that two masked men had just walked into Walgreens, 5440 North Clark, in Andersonville. Police said the men ordered a cashier to open the registers at gunpoint.
Cops arrived on the scene as the robbers pulled out of a parking space on Clark Street. The getaway driver crashed the Audi into a vehicle that was parked in front of it, and both robbers ran from the scene. Officers arrested the 17-year-old and Shields nearby and recovered one firearm from each of them, CPD said in a media statement Monday evening.
Officials said Shields also robbed Morse Fresh Market, 1440 West Morse, and a Bridgeport restaurant before Walgreens.
CPD said the 17-year-old also robbed three North Side convenience stores at gunpoint in about an hour on Sunday morning.
Each time, he entered a store, displayed a gun, and ordered the cashier to open the register. Police said he took money from the drawer and cigarettes from the display before escaping in a black Toyota Highlander.
His first stop on Sunday morning was the 7-Eleven at 1404 West Pratt around 8:06 a.m. About eight minutes later, he robbed the 7-Eleven at 6801 North Sheridan. Finally, he robbed the Shell station at 5701 North Broadway around 8:48 a.m.
Cops spotted him as he drove the Highlander from the third robbery scene, but they terminated their pursuit after he struck another vehicle and drove onto Lake Shore Drive.
He is charged with five counts of armed robbery with a firearm, aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm, possessing a stolen motor vehicle, burglary, having a concealed weapon, and possessing a controlled substance.