Violent robberies keep happening in spurts and sprees in Chicago -- dozens of crimes, no arrests
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The number keeps growing – there have been several dozen violent robberies in Chicago in three and a half weeks - and not one arrest.
The robberies have been happening on the city's North, Northwest, and West sides. We have been tracking the crime trend closely for weeks.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported Friday, we have also been asking police for weeks about these crimes that have been happening in spurts across the city. Oftentimes, numerous robberies are reported in one area within a period of hours.
Every red point on the map below represents a violent robbery we've tracked. We have been watching the spike in crime closely since early October, but the map above just represents what has been reported since Nov. 14 – which was less than a month ago.
There are now 50 robberies, many of them in the past week. Police have issued multiple community alerts about the sprees – with a number of police districts investigating them.
But as of Friday, there had been nary an arrest.
We have heard concerns from people living on the city's North and West sides, where many of these are happening, about a lack of police presence.
We have asked police what is being done to target the crime, but they haven't addressed that question.
The crews behind the crimes are described, again and again, as crews of two to four men with handguns - often wearing ski masks. Police are connecting some of the 50 incidents, but not all of them.
The crews in these robbery sprees hold people a gunpoint, throw people to the ground - and, in some cases beat their victims with weapons.
Here is a breakdown of recent incidents – beginning with a spree of robberies that happened at the following times and locations on Wednesday morning:
- 2:08 a.m. in the 2400 block of West Fullerton Avenue in Logan Square.
- 2:54 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Ashland Avenue in Wicker Park.
- 3:05 a.m. in the 2700 block of West Augusta Boulevard in Humboldt Park.
- 4:15 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Western Avenue in Wicker Park.
- 4:21 a.m. in the 2700 block of North Central Avenue in Belmont Cragin.
- 4:42 a.m. in the 4000 block of North Central Avenue in Portage Park.
- 4:44 a.m. in the 5300 block West Berenice Avenue in Portage Park.
- 5 a.m. in the 5200 block of West North Avenue in North Austin.
- 5:30 a.m. in the 2300 block of West Rice Street in Ukrainian Village.
- 5:44 a.m. in the 3100 block of West Division Street in Humboldt Park.
- 6:20 a.m. in the 1600 block of North Cicero Avenue in North Austin.
There were also six robberies in rapid succession Tuesday morning. They happened at the following times and locations:
• 6:30 a.m. in the 3800 block of West Ohio Street.
• 6:35 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Central Park Avenue.
• 6:45 a.m. in the 3200 block of West Huron Street.
• 6:50 a.m. in the 1000 block of North Ridgeway Avenue.
• 7 a.m. in the 3300 block of West Grand Avenue.
• 9:28 a.m. in the 3700 block of West Thomas Street.
In each incident early Tuesday, the robbers pulled up in a black or dark-colored sport-utility vehicle, came up to the victims, and demanded their property at gunpoint. The robbers pistol-whipped the victims in two of the incidents.
This next spree of robberies happened early on Monday morning in the Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Bucktown, and Logan Square areas within a period of an hour and a half:
- At 5:20 a.m., three men got out of a dark-colored sedan and robbed a woman at gunpoint in the 1600 block of North Hermitage Avenue.
- At 5:22 a.m., four men with guns robbed a man in the 1600 block of North Damen Avenue. They took his wallet and power tools and fled in a gray vehicle.
- Around 5:25 a.m., three men stepped out of a black sedan and robbed a woman at gunpoint in the 2300 block of West North Avenue.
- Also around 5:25 a.m., two men got out of a gray car and robbed a group of people in the 1600 block of North Ashland Avenue. Two of the victims, both women, called police after they arrived at work in the West Loop.
- Around 5:35 a.m., two people exited a car and robbed a man at gunpoint in the 2200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue.
- At 5:40 a.m., a man was sitting in a work truck in the 600 block of North Western Avenue when two robbers got out of a dark-colored vehicle and tried to take his property. They did not end up getting anything.
- Also around 5:40 a.m., three robbers exited a dark-colored vehicle and held up two people at gunpoint the 2000 block of North Milwaukee Avenue.
- At 6:29 a.m., a man was robbed at gunpoint in the 1700 block of North Western Avenue. The robbers took the man's wallet and cellphone and then threw the phone back at the victim.
These robberies happened on Friday of last week, and this past Sunday. The robbers approached the victims in the public way and demanded their property at gunpoint. The three robbers were between 17 and 30 years old and were armed with semiautomatic handguns. Specific times and locations were as follows:
· At 12:45 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 2100 block of West Cullerton Street.
· At 1 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 2600 block of West Iowa Street.
· At 1:05 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 900 block of North Western Avenue.
· At 1:19 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 800 block of North Rockwell Street.
· At 1:21 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 3400 block of West Armitage Avenue.
· At 1:25 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 3600 block of West Shakespeare Avenue.
· At 1:39 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 3400 block of West Irving Park Road.
· At 1:40 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 4000 block of West Wellington Avenue.
· Between 2 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Friday in the 3100 block of North Pulaski Road.
· At 2:10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 4000 block of West Fullerton Avenue.
· At 2 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, in the 1000 block of North Spaulding Avenue.
· At 2:10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, in the 900 block of North Damen Avenue.
· At 2:15 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, in the 1500 block of West Augusta Boulevard.
· At 2:45 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, in the 3000 block of West Palmer Boulevard.
These robberies happened on Friday and Saturday of last week, and involved two to four offenders using force:
--7:11 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 2200 block of West Superior Street.
--7:18 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 800 block of North California Avenue.
--7:45 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the 1200 block of West Race Avenue.
--7:45 p.m.-7:55 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in the 1500 block of West Walton Street.
--8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in the 1800 block of West Hubbard Street.
--8:07 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in the 2100 block of West Ohio Street.
--8:20 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in the 1400 block of West Superior Street.
--8:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in the 700 block of North Hoyne Avenue.
We have also learned of two robberies that happened in the South Loop, which fell into a preexisting pattern going back to October. Both occurred in the 600 block of West Roosevelt Road – one at 4 p.m. Nov. 22, the other at 11:30 p.m. Dec. 2.
Also now on our radar are these three robberies, in which the committed holdups to gain entrances to businesses or garages with cars inside, and went on to steal keys and cars. They all happened in the morning hours:
--Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the 1700 block of North Clybourn Avenue.
--Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the 900 block of West North Avenue.
--Saturday, Nov. 26, in the 1000 block of North Lake Shore Drive.
A breakdown of other incidents we have been tracking since Nov. 14 follows:
Still under investigation, Monday, Nov. 14:
-400 block of West Arlington Place, Lincoln Park – three to four men in ski masks displayed a gun and robbed man of an unspecified age and a 31-year-old woman at 10:50 p.m..
Suspended, Monday, Nov. 14:
-2000 block of North Orleans Street, Lincoln Park – three to four men in ski masks displayed a gun, ordered a couple – ages 26 and 27 – to the ground, and robbed them at 11:10 p.m.
Still under investigation, Tuesday Nov. 15/Wednesday, Nov. 16:
-800 block of West Sunnyside Avenue, Uptown – three men with gun rob two women of laptops, phones around 11 a.m.
-800 block of West Sunnyside Avenue, Uptown – two men rob a man at gunpoint.
-5000 block of North Kenmore Avenue, Uptown – three men in ski masks with guns rob man.
Suspended, Thursday, Nov. 17:
-6400 block of North Claremont Avenue, West Rogers Park – group of men rob 35-year-old man.
Still under investigation, Thursday, Nov. 17:
-4800 block of West Ainslie Street, North Mayfair –five men rob man at gunpoint around 1:30 a.m.
Still under investigation, Saturday, Nov. 19:
-300 block of West Walton Street, Near North Side – two men with guns carjack woman.
-200 block of South Wells Street, Loop – men rob and carjack man at gunpoint.
Still under investigation, Sunday, Nov. 20:
-2600 block of North Burling Street, Lincoln Park – three men rob couple at gunpoint around 2:25 a.m.
-500 block of West Belden Avenue, Lincoln Park – three men rob couple at gunpoint around 3 a.m.
Still under investigation, Friday, Nov. 25:
-800 block of North Campbell Avenue, West Town – masked men rob man, fail with his SUV around 7:30 a.m.
-800 block of North Rockwell Street, West Town – masked men robbed woman of her purse around 7:40 a.m.
-800 block of North Campbell Avenue, West Town – carjacking around 7:45 a.m.
- 6400 block of North Hoyne Avenue, West Rogers Park – Three men rob woman at gunpoint around 8 a.m.
-6500 block of North Damen Avenue, West Rogers Park – Men rob woman, end up crashing, at 8:11 a.m.
-6000 block of North Campbell Avenue, West Rogers Park – men attempt to carjack at gunpoint, but end up robbing him of wallet at gunpoint.
-6200 block of North Claremont Avenue, West Rogers Park – robbery of wallets at gunpoint.
-1300 block of North Maplewood Avenue, West Town – robbery of woman at gunpoint.
Still under investigation, Monday, Nov. 28:
A 38-year-old man was walking out of a BP gas station when three men beat him over the head with a gun and took his wallet at 4:05 a.m.
Still under investigation, Tuesday, Nov. 29:
-5100 block of South Laflin Street, Back of the Yards – a man was in an alley trying to jumpstart a car at 9:32 p.m. when another man came up and demanded his wallet at gunpoint. The robber shot the man in the leg and took his wallet.
Suspended, Monday, Nov. 28:
-4000 block of West Cornelia Avenue – A 62-year-old man was walking on the sidewalk at 1:30 a.m. when three men took his phone and wallet at gunpoint and took his wallet. The robbers struck the man in the face with the gun.
Police say: "A suspended status means the case cannot proceed further at this time. That can happen for a variety of reasons, including detectives exhausting all leads currently available.
"It is not a permanent status and it can be changed if and when more information becomes available.
"Anyone with information is urged to contact police or submit an anonymous tip online at CPDTIP.com."
Altogether, there are a total of 74 incidents described above – though there are likely more that have happened.
Police only said: "There is no update of the Community Alerts, Detectives are still investigating. Thanks."
So what do you need to know? It's nothing you haven't heard before. Chicago Police say the first thing is to be aware these robberies are happening – and if it happens to you, stay calm and call 911 immediately.