CHICAGO — More robberies were reported on Sunday in a part of town that has been hit hard by similar crimes since the week before Thanksgiving. In fact, robbery reports in two police districts that patrol much of the affected area are nearly as high as a year ago, when holdup crews regularly prowled the neighborhoods.
On Sunday morning, robbers struck twice in Bucktown.
First, they targeted a 75-year-old man and a 77-year-old woman who were walking in the 1800 block of North Paulina around 7:10 a.m., according to Chicago police. Two robbers exited a car and demanded the victims’ property. But they didn’t get anything from the couple, and they returned to the vehicle empty-handed, a police spokesperson said.
An officer at the scene said the getaway car was a white four-door vehicle with tinted windows that was last seen heading east in the north alley of Wabansia.
Moments later, also in Bucktown, a woman was robbed at gunpoint by three men who took her purse, keys, and phone in the 1800 block of West North Avenue. Officers were told to be on the lookout for three younger Black males wearing black clothing and traveling in a newer model, white, four-door car.
At least two other individuals reported that they were chased by people who jumped out of a white car in nearby neighborhoods between 7 and 8 a.m.
Two more incidents were reported within 30 minutes on Sunday evening, first in the West Loop and then on the Near West Side.
In the 300 block of North Green, a dark two-door car pulled onto the 300 block of North Green and a masked man jumped out of the passenger seat to steal a victim’s white Mercedes around 5:20 p.m. Cops found the car a short time later in the Oakland neighborhood.
At about 5:45 p.m., a delivery driver was robbed at gunpoint in the 300 block of South Leavitt. He was on a video call with his wife when three robbers attacked him and took his keys and phone, according to a preliminary report. The victim told police he believed he pepper-sprayed at least two of the suspects, who were described as Black males between 16 and 20 years old.
Finally, around 12:20 Monday morning, two masked men robbed a man at gunpoint in the 2300 block of West Rice. He reported that two robbers hopped out of a white car, possibly a Kia, that was in an alley and took his phone and wallet. Officers who spoke with the victim said the suspects were Black males who were about 16 or 17 years old, both wearing black puffy winter coats.
Sunday’s robberies all occurred in CPD’s Near West (12th) and Shakespeare (14th) Districts, which served as ground zero for unrelenting waves of armed robberies from late 2022 through early last year.
The police department’s latest statistics reports for the districts, issued last Monday, showed that the 12th District had 16 robberies in the previous week and 62 in the previous 28 days. The weekly number is up 23% from a year ago. While the 28-day total is four shy of the same period in 2023, it’s important to remember that 2023 was the worst year for robberies the area had seen in decades.
In the Shakespeare District, robbery reports were up 33% the week before last Monday. There were 34 cases reported in the previous 28 days, two fewer than the same period in 2023.
Even though dozens of robberies, most committed during short sprees, have been reported in the area since November 22, CPD only issued its first warning about the crimes yesterday. And then, they only mentioned five incidents that occurred on Friday morning.
Previous reporting
On New Year’s Eve, at least six people were robbed during a one-hour crime spree across Humboldt Park and Ukrainian Village. And on December 29, six robberies were reported between Humboldt Park and the West Loop. While police stopped a vehicle suspected of being involved in the crimes, the only charges filed against its occupants were for drug possession. At least seven people were robbed on Friday, December 27, during a two-hour crime spree that started on the West Side and then moved into Old Town and Lincoln Park. And at least five people were robbed during a 45-minute spree the following evening.
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.
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