CHICAGO — Police detained three suspects in the South Loop on Sunday evening after another robbery spree rolled through neighborhoods from the West Loop to Humboldt Park. Whether the group was involved in the crimes remains to be seen. So far, Chicago police have not announced any charges against them.
Sunday’s spree was the third since Friday that targeted the same part of town. At least three additional sprees have been reported in the area since November 22.
The robberies on Sunday began around 2:40 p.m. near the corner of Augusta and Pulaski. Four men dressed entirely in black jumped out of a blue sedan and robbed a street vendor of his wallet, according to preliminary information.
About 10 minutes later, three masked men armed with guns exited a blue Hyundai with Georgia license plates to rob another man near the corner of Division and Damen in Wicker Park. Cops found the Hyundai abandoned around 4 p.m. in the 500 block of North Albany.
Meanwhile, the robberies continued. Around 3:45 p.m., four robbers in their teens or early 20s got out of a white SUV and robbed a man of his AirPods and phone in the 1200 block of West Fulton Market, a police report said.
At about 4 p.m., three masked men armed with at least one firearm hopped out of a white SUV and attacked a man from behind near the corner of Chicago Avenue and Ada Street. They pistol-whipped and punched the man, who was later taken to St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment, but they did not get any of his valuables.
Minutes later, three masked men in a white vehicle, believed to be a Volkswagen Tiguan with Florida license plates, robbed a man at gunpoint as he loaded his car in an alley behind the 1900 block of West Division.
Cops tracked the Volkswagen down using the city’s network of license plate readers and detained three occupants at the BP station, 1221 South Wabash, around 5:15 p.m.
While officers were investigating at the gas station, yet another robbery was reported on the corner of Western Avenue and Iowa Street around 5:20 p.m. Three masked men got out of a white car to rob the victim. Witnesses who intervened in the mugging told police they thought the robbers escaped in a Hyundai SUV, but other information indicated that they used a sedan.
An officer who met with the last victim said he described the suspects as four or five White males wearing masks.
All of the other robbery suspects were described as Black males in their mid-teens to early 20s wearing black masks and black clothing.
Surging sprees
Similar robbery sprees have been reported in the area in recent weeks. At least five people were robbed during a 45-minute spree on Saturday evening. At least seven people were robbed Friday evening during a two-hour crime spree that started on the West Side and then moved into Old Town and Lincoln Park. From late Christmas Eve into Christmas morning, three armed robberies were reported in Bucktown, Lincoln Park, and Avondale. At least nine people were mugged during a string of armed robberies last Saturday evening, December 21.
On Monday, December 9, at least seven people, including an off-duty FBI agent, were robbed during a string of similar robberies in Bucktown, Humboldt Park, and West Town. And on November 22 and 23, teams of armed robbers committed at least five armed robberies and carjackings in Logan Square, the West Loop, and Ukrainian Village.
