CHICAGO — Yet another woman was targeted by a necklace-snatching robber downtown on Friday evening. About a dozen similar crimes have been reported over the past three weeks.
The crimes began as a two-person operation, with one robber snatching necklaces and sometimes phones from victims while an accomplice waited with a motorized bike or scooter that they used for escape. However, a lone robber has been responsible for the crimes since prosecutors charged a man in connection with a necklace theft near the Clybourn Corridor last weekend.
Just after 5 p.m. Friday, a man snatched the necklace from a woman’s neck near the 100 block of South Clinton and fled the scene. He was described as Black or Indian with a tattoo over one eye. He wore a gray hoodie and black pants and had a black sling bag over his chest.
On Thursday evening, a woman was mugged near the Shedd Aquarium by a man who used the same technique. He escaped on a bike. An officer who responded to the scene said the robber was a Black man in his mid-20s, standing 5’8″ to 5’10” tall and wearing black clothing.
Most of the robberies were reported last week. They involved a two-man team who usually escaped on an electric or motorized bike. Earlier victims offered different descriptions of those suspects, with some saying they were Black males and others saying they were Hispanic males.
Last Saturday morning, September 21, police arrested Anthony Laya-Alvarado after a woman’s necklace was snatched in the 900 block of West Weed. Prosecutors said Laya-Alvarado and an accomplice escaped on a motorized bike and ran away when police moved in. Cops caught Laya-Alvarado, but the other guy got away.
Incidents linked to a two-man team were also reported:
- near State and Jackson around 3:22 p.m. on September 9
- at Illinois and Peshtigo around noon on September 11
- on the Lakefront Trail near Armitage around 2:30 p.m. on September 11
- on the Lakefront Trail near Grand around 3 p.m. on September 11
- near Lake and North Riverside around 4 p.m. on September 11
- in the 300 block of South Financial around 10:42 a.m. on September 12
- near Wells and Adams around 7:40 p.m. on September 13
- near Kinzie and Canal around 10:15 p.m. on September 13
