CHICAGO — Armed robbers pulled off an overnight robbery spree Monday, targeting at least five victims from the South Loop to Lakeview. The holdups bear some similarities to an overnight robbery spree reported last week. Two more robberies were reported on the Northwest Side.
Today’s holdups began at 2:24 a.m. in the 500 block of West Diversey. Chicago police said four armed men exited a black sedan. They pistol-whipped a 35-year-old man and forced him to lie on the ground at gunpoint.
The group took his wallet and phone and also robbed a 31-year-old woman who was with him, according to CPD.
Then, around 2:40 a.m., two women were robbed as they walked outside Joe’s on Weed in the 900 block of West Weed. Police said an armed man got out of a black sedan occupied by two accomplices. He took the victims’ purses, phones, and other items, then returned to the vehicle and fled.
Another robbery was reported outside Homewood Suites, 59 East 11th Street in the South Loop, around 3:15 a.m. Police said four men got out of a black sedan, hit a 55-year-old man in the face with a pistol, and took his wallet and backpack at gunpoint.
An officer said that the crew kept his cash but returned to the scene to dump his wallet and bookbag in the street.
A dark-colored Infiniti, recently stolen from Brighton Park, may have been used in the first three robberies. The victims described the robbers as Black males wearing black clothing and masks.
Similar robberies were reported in some of the same areas early last Wednesday, January 24:
- Around 2 a.m., three men robbed and hit an Uber driver in the face at 27th and State Street.
- Around 5:30 a.m., two masked men got out of a black SUV and held up a woman at gunpoint as she was walking to the Lakeshore Athletic Club in the 1000 block of West Diversey.
- An armed man who stepped out of a car took a woman’s bag and lunch box after exiting a vehicle near Grand and Ogden around 5:50 a.m.
On the Northwest Side today, another robbery was reported a short time later in the 3800 block of North Elston. Again, four men exited a black sedan with guns.
And around 4:15 a.m., still another mugging occurred near Lawrence and Long in Jefferson Park. At least three men hit a woman in the head with a gun and took her purse and phone, according to initial information.
