Chicago police were talking to a robbery suspect on Monday after officers took him into custody following a string of armed holdups.
At least four robberies were reported early Monday from the Loop to Greektown and out toward the United Center, all involving an armed group that traveled in a white sedan.
A 28-year-old woman told police that a man and woman exited a white car to rob her at gunpoint in the 200 block of South Halsted around 12:56 a.m. But an officer who reviewed surveillance video of the robbery said the offenders appeared to be men.
Around the same time, two people jumped out of a white Hyundai Sonata and robbed a woman at gunpoint near Jefferson and Van Buren. The victim told officers that one of the robbers appeared to be as young as 11 years old.
Another robbery followed around 1:11 a.m. in the 100 block of South Western. This time, three robbers exited a white sedan with multiple handguns. They took a man’s bag and drove away.
The final robbery was reported near 21st Place and California Avenue around 1:20 a.m.
Shortly after that incident, officers spotted a white Hyundai Sonata bearing a license plate that investigators linked to the holdups. Two people bailed out of the car in the 3500 block of West Douglas and ran. Cops arrested one of them, but the other got away.
A Chicago police spokesperson confirmed that the suspect remained in custody as of Monday evening, but no charges had been filed.
Even after that robbery crew was apparently put out of commission for the night, another crime spree popped up.
Between 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m., three robberies were reported at service stations from the West Loop to the Near West Side.
In each case, victims said four men driving a small black SUV displayed guns and robbed them.
The first victim was targeted at the BP station at Desplaines and Taylor while he filled up his truck’s tank around 3:34 a.m.
An employee arriving for work at the Shell station, 2401 North Western, was robbed around 4:10 a.m., according to a CPD report.
And another man was robbed at the Shell station at 1160 West Van Buren around 4:45 a.m.
The robbers were described as Black males between 16 and 19 years old who wore masks. One wore a black hoodie, and another wore a yellow sweatshirt.
Update October 3: Chicago police announced this morning that the person arrested, a 16-year-old boy, is being charged with robbing a 31-year-old man in the 1600 block of West North Avenue on September 23. Prosecutors did not charge him with any of the robberies that the vehicle was involved in prior to his arrest.
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