CHICAGO — Another bar-goer was mugged early Sunday in Wrigleyville, a part of town where police say organized crews have been targeting late-night revelers at closing time.
The victim was on the corner of Clark and Cornelia when two armed men demanded his valuables around 1:30 a.m., according to preliminary information. The robbers fled on foot after getting the man’s phone, cash, and cards.
Officers were told to be on the lookout for two Black males, one with dreadlocks, wearing dark clothing. They were both 6’1″ or 6’2″ tall with medium builds.
CPD has issued two warnings this year about robbery crews targeting Wrigleyville and Gold Coast bar-goers as they wait for rideshares at closing time. Three of the five Wrigleyville robberies occurred in the 3500 block of North Clark, the same block where Sunday’s robbery was reported. It is unclear if the latest victim was targeted by the group CPD has been warning about.
The known crime pattern usually involves three or four robbers who approach victims and either display a gun or use force to get control of their valuables. The robbers have even accessed some of the victims’ bank accounts through phones taken during the hold-ups, police said.
In Wrigleyville, the robberies occurred:
- in the 3500 block of North Clark at 1:30 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. on January 5
- in the 3500 block of North Clark at 1:10 a.m. on January 11
- in the 1000 block of West Newport at 2 a.m. on February 9
- in the 3500 block of North Clark at 1:55 a.m. on February 23
- in the 3600 block of North Clark at 3:45 a.m. on February 23
Gold Coast robberies were reported at 3 a.m. on January 11 in the first block of West Division and the next day at 2:16 a.m. in the first block of East Elm. CPD describes the suspects as three or four Black males between 16 and 25 years old
While the Wrigleyville robbers have been problematic, robbery reports across the rest of the Lakeview-based Town Hall (19th) District are down 38% this year, with 43 cases reported as of last Sunday. That number is still well above the levels seen in 2023 and 2022, however.
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