Robbery, carjacking crews return to Logan Square and West Town; at least 12 victims in latest sprees

CHICAGO — After laying low for a few days following the arrest of a 14-year-old boy, Chicago’s armed robbery crews returned to the streets on Saturday night and Sunday morning. One of the crews crashed into a building in Humboldt Park, but they escaped by jumping into a second car trailing behind them that was full of accomplices.

At least 12 people were robbed or carjacked, with Logan Square being hard hit again.

Most of Saturday evening’s victims reported that two or three masked men stepped out of cars to rob them at gunpoint.

The holdups began around 5:20 p.m. in the 3000 block of West Medill. Another followed around 8 p.m. near Halsted and Cermak in Pilsen.

A woman was robbed of her purse at gunpoint in the 1000 block of North Wood by a crew traveling in a white four-door car around 8:30 p.m.

Two more women were robbed within minutes near Eckhart Park in Noble Square. Again, the robbers fled in a white car.

Not coincidentally, a white Hyundai sedan crashed into a building on the corner of Rockwell and Augusta just before 9 p.m. Witnesses told police that men carrying guns ran from the wreckage and jumped into another white car that stopped to pick them up.

The robberies resumed around 2:15 a.m. at Central Park and North Avenue in Logan Square. A man reported that four gunmen emerged from a small black car and pistol-whipped him during a robbery attempt.

Then, around 2:30 a.m., carjackers traveling in a Kia SUV and a sedan blocked a driver in the 3500 block of North Pulaski. They took the man’s SUV at gunpoint, and all three cars fled.

Two men were robbed at gunpoint, and one was pistol-whipped in the 3300 block of North Milwaukee around 3:15 a.m. The robbers took their phones and a wallet, then fled in a gray car, according to preliminary information.

Four men robbed another victim in the 3500 block of West Palmer around 3:40 a.m.

At 3:50 a.m., there was another carjacking in the 1900 block of North Kimball. Four men, all armed with guns, took a driver’s gray 2023 Kia K5, a police report said.

Robberies in Logan Square, West Town, and Humboldt Park have been surging for months, driven by relentless waves of robbery sprees.

The crimes have continued even after a local alderman, Daniel La Spata, assured his constituents in July that police had crafted a “concrete and collaborative plan” to address the problem. Robberies in La Spata’s ward are up another 140% since his announcement.

A coalition of neighborhood groups is calling on city and Cook County officials to address “dramatic increases in violent crime,” especially armed robberies, in West Town, Logan Square, Wicker Park, and adjoining neighborhoods.

Among the actions the group wants elected officials to undertake:

providing a “strategic plan and roadmap to reduce crime and increase public safety as soon as possible.”
reevaluating Chicago police district boundaries and asset allocations
“Review the current [Chicago Police Department] chase policy to establish safe and effective means of apprehending violent perpetrators.”
releasing data showing the effectiveness of violence prevention and intervention programs
expedite the installation of police surveillance cameras and license plate reader technology.

A wide range of neighborhood community organizations support the letter, which was signed on their behalf by Sam Royko, a local resident who ran against La Spata in the 2023 general election. The organization will host a press conference this week with Ald. Gil Villegas (36th) to publicly call on the city and county to take action.

Recent robbery spree coverage