Armed robbery crew linked to 5 Chicago crimes in past week, including at Arturo's Tacos, Griddle 24
Chicago police are warning businesses about a crew of armed robbers who have been linked to at least five overnight incidents in the past week.
The suspects have been armed with guns each time they've committed one of the crimes.
On April 19, at 3:40 a.m., surveillance video captured two armed men enter the front door of Arturo's Tacos in Bucktown at the corner of Armitage and Western.
In the video, a man in a gray hoodie points a rifle at customers. He's followed by a man in a dark hoodie, pointing a handgun at everyone. From a different angle, you see the man in the gray hoodie point his rifle at an employee, and then the suspect armed with the handgun approaches her too.
Seconds later, both men run out of the business without taking anything from the register or customers, but then decide to come back for the ATM. In the video you can see customers get under tables when they see the armed suspects come back. They try to take the ATM, struggle, give up and then leave.
A source with knowledge of the incident said the pair were scared off when they saw how full the restaurant was; around 60 percent. One of the men kept saying to the other, "Watch out! Watch out!"
Customers at Griddle 24, just a few days later, weren't so lucky. At 3:13 a.m. Thursday, police said members of the same crew entered the River North diner in the 300 block of West Chicago Avenue. They showed customers and employees handguns and rifles and quickly robbed diners of their belongings before ordering an employee to open the cash registers.
Chicago police said the same crew carjacked a rideshare driver in the 2100 block of West Walnut on the Near West Side around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. They took the 54-year-old driver's belongings and his Nissan SUV. Minutes later they showed up in the 3800 block of West Harrison Street in Garfield Park, where they robbed someone at gunpoint. Then the crew made their way to Arturo's Tacos in the same stolen vehicle.
Arturo's has been a fixture in the community since 1988. This is the second attempted robbery they've had since they opened. The first was in 2023.
The final incident so far linked to this crew also happened in Bucktown on Thursday. Police said three suspects from the same group entered a business wearing masks, holding handguns and a rifle, and took two cash registers and packs of cigarettes.
If you have any information about any of these armed robberies, contact Area Three detectives.
