Police put out alert about armed robbery spree from Rogers Park to Lakeview; Loyola students among victims
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police on Monday issued a community alert about a new spree of armed robberies from Rogers Park to Lakeview – three of which targeted Loyola University students.
In each incident, three male assailants come up to the victims, surround them at gunpoint, and demand their personal property.
The perpetrators take cellphones, watches, purses, and keys and vehicles – and they demand the passcodes to the phones, police said. This is similar to case of Dakotah Earley, who was shot and critically wounded at Wayne and Webster avenues in Lincoln Park.
The robberies happened at the following times and locations:
• At 1:38 a.m. Sunday in the 1000 block of West Columbia Avenue;
• At 1:47 a.m. Sunday in the 6500 block of North Glenwood Avenue;
• At 2 a.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of West Birchwood Avenue;
• At 2:30 a.m. Sunday in the 5600 block of North Mozart Street;
• At 11:35 p.m. Sunday in the 3800 block of North Pine Grove Avenue;
• At 11:45 p.m. Sunday in the 1100 block of West Farwell Avenue;
• At 1:20 a.m. Monday in the 1100 block of West Grace Street.
The victims in some of these incidents were Loyola students. In the Glenwood Avenue incident early Sunday, two men – 20 and 21 – and a woman, 21, were walking when three men armed with handguns jumped out of a white sport-utility vehicle and demanded their belongings.
The offenders took the victim's property and one of the offenders then fired one shot in one of the victim's direction, police said.
"Usually, it's just asking for a wallet, that kind of thing," said Loyola senior Ben Mooney. "I do have to admit them pulling up in a car and just popping out, that's pretty scary, to be honest, because you can't see. You never know when it's going to happen to you. You can't really monitor every single car that drives by.
No injuries were reported in any of the robberies.
The suspects are described as three African American males between the ages of 16 and 25. One of them is about 5 feet 9 inches tall and was seen wearing an orange face mask, blue hoodie, and black speat pants. The second about 5 feet tall and was seen wearing a blue face mask, a black hoodie, and black sweat pants. The height for the third suspect was not specified, and he was wearing an orange hoodie.
They are using a white SUV and a four-door dark sedan.
Anyone with information is asked to call Area Three detectives at (312) 744-8263.
