The staff member had just parked in the 800-block of East 59th Street around 6 p.m. when a dark-colored SUV pulled up and two people took the person's cell phone at knifepoint, according to a security alert from the University.
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The suspects returned to the SUV and fled west on 59th Street, then north on Cottage Grove Avenue, according to the alert.
No one was injured.
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Last month a roundtable discussion was held to talk about violence in South Side neighborhoods, including Hyde Park, where UChicago is located.
"This was a meeting where people brought solutions to the table. It wasn't a complaint session," said Ghian Forman, with Emerald South Economic Collaborative.
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Forman was one of more than a dozen community leaders and key stakeholders who attended the meeting joined by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown.
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"We are seeing the manifestation of decades of disinvestment in Black and Brown neighborhoods in our city," the mayor said. "There's no question about it, exacerbated by a pandemic that infected the entire ecosystem of public safety."
The meeting came after three violent crimes involving University of Chicago students, including the slaying of a 24-year-old U of C graduate who was killed during a robbery. Charges have been filed in that case.
"Safety is my unequivocal top priority," University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos said at the time.
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Although both short and long-term solutions are still in the works, for now, CPD has pledged to increase patrols in the area, better coordinate with area law enforcement and enhance the use of crime-fighting technology.
The city's top cop blames the recent spike in crime on too many guns in the hands of violent people, as well as economic disparities made worse by the pandemic.
Sun-Times Media contributed to this report.
The video in the player above is from an earlier report.