Chicago police believe they have captured a three-man crew responsible for a string of violent daylight robberies that have shaken parts of the city in recent weeks.
The arrests took place Saturday afternoon—just about 30 minutes before CPD issued its second community alert regarding the robbery crew, which detectives have now linked to at least eight armed holdups committed this month alone.
In each case, the offenders jumped out of a gray Infiniti Q50 and robbed pedestrians at gunpoint before fleeing, CPD said. In several cases, the robbers demanded phone passcodes and pistol-whipped the victims before fleeing.
A source familiar with the investigation said police learned the stolen Infiniti was returning to the area of Washington Boulevard and Central Avenue after each robbery spree. That intelligence prompted investigators to put extra resources in the area.
Around 1:45 p.m. Saturday, officers spotted the Infiniti with all three suspects inside and followed it for about eight minutes until the suspects bailed out near Kostner Avenue and Le Moyne Street. Officers gave chase on foot and quickly apprehended all three. The driver was armed with a gun at the time of arrest, the source said.
Police impounded the Infiniti and recovered some of the robbery victims’ stolen property, according to the source. Charges were pending as of Sunday morning.
Previous Reporting
The most recent attack occurred just before 11:20 a.m. Friday in the 300 block of North Laflin Street in the West Loop. Three victims—two men, ages 32 and 46, and a 43-year-old woman—were sitting inside a red vehicle when two masked gunmen approached.
Surveillance video captured the entire encounter: the suspects backed the Infiniti into a parking spot in front of the victims’ car, then quickly emerged from the vehicle and rushed to both sides of the red car, demanding belongings at gunpoint. The assailants fled south on Laflin with stolen items. No injuries were reported.
By Saturday afternoon, Chicago police issued a second community alert, formally connecting that robbery to a growing pattern of violent thefts dating back to early Thursday.
Around 7 a.m. Thursday, a woman walking in the 1400 block of West Carroll Avenue in West Town was ambushed by three masked men who jumped out of a sedan. One of the attackers pistol-whipped her twice in the head before the group robbed her of a purse and phone.
Roughly three hours later, another robbery unfolded inside a parking garage at Rush University Medical Center, in the 1500 block of West Harrison Street. Two men, dressed entirely in black and armed with handguns, confronted two victims on the garage’s ground floor and stole a Coach bag and a maroon backpack before fleeing in a car matching the description of the gray Infiniti.
The crew struck again early Friday morning. At 7:40 a.m., a man was robbed in the 1200 block of West Carroll by three masked offenders—two of them armed—who took his valuables and drove off in a gray sedan. Just 40 minutes later, at 8:21 a.m., two masked men attempted another robbery nearby, threatening a woman at gunpoint. The woman was not harmed, and the robbers fled without taking anything.
Less than an hour later, two more robberies occurred. At 9:14 a.m., a victim was held up in the 800 block of West Blackhawk Street. Then, at 9:26 a.m., another attempted robbery was reported in the 900 block of West Weed Street, near Goose Island. Both incidents involved suspects matching earlier descriptions and the same stolen gray Infiniti.
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