Midlothian robbery renews fears after recent attacks

MIDLOTHIAN, Ill. (WLS) -- Police in south suburban Midlothian are trying to figure out if the robbery of a woman is linked to recent attacks in the same general area. The victim says she was robbed around midnight Sunday as she was walking home from the train station.

The victim works downtown and arrived at the Midlothian Metra station and decided to walk after the cab she called never arrived. She was less than a block away from home when her daughter says she was attacked.

"Someone just ran up behind her, grabbed her purse, knocked her down and hit her in the face and ran off," Sara Judd said.

Judd's mother is the fourth woman to be attacked in the Midlothian neighborhood since July 19th. She is the second to have been walking home from the local Metra stop late at night.

"She called the cab like she usually does, to get a ride home because it's not safe anymore and I guess they never showed up," Judd said.

Sunday morning's attack is the second one to happen on Trumbull. All four victims live within blocks of each other, residents said.

"None of us feel safe right now. There's too much going on in one little area," Midlothian resident Megan Clark said.

Midlothian Police confirmed this latest attack via Facebook Sunday. Colleen Nicely lives at 146th and Trumbull directly across from where it happened. She says there are a lot of extra patrols in the area.

"They're looking at everybody with cameras in the neighborhood to see if we had anything on camera and knocking on all the neighbors' doors," Nicely said.

Judd says it's not enough.

"When the train comes every night they should have cops patrolling up and down the streets after nightfall. They don't do that. Once nightfall hits they're gone," she said.

As for the suspect, so far all the previous victims said their attacker was wearing a black mask and hood. That has not been confirmed in this latest one, though police believe they are all related.

"She didn't see anything," Judd said. "She just felt herself get knocked down and by the time she could get back up he was gone."

Midlothian Police were not available for comment Sunday, the chief saying only that they are doing everything that they can to try to capture the suspect, and also recommend that residents do not walk alone at night until after the case is solved.