50 Chicago armed robberies reported on Northwest Side in 4 days, CPD says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police have issued an alert after 50 armed robberies were reported in Humboldt Park, Ukrainian Village and Logan Square in just four days.

The armed robberies have occurred in the 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 24th and 25th districts in the overnight and early morning hours, police said. In each incident, the victims are on foot or seated in a vehicle on the street when a car with two to four robbers pulls up, multiple suspects get out and, while armed with handguns, demand the victims' personal belongings, including phones and wallets.

Eileen black was working behind the bar of a neighborhood tavern when two patrons frantically scrambled back inside.

"Both of the guys came in and said, 'We were just robbed,'" she recalled. "They were very shaken up. Very shaken up. They got both of their phones. One of the guys was actually on the phone talking to his girlfriend when they were robbed and she heard the whole thing."

Minutes later, bartenders said customers leaving Sportsman's Club around the corner on Western Avenue was robbed the same way. That was on December 2, and a sign on the inside door now warns customers about the robberies.

"If someone's just robbing anyone and everyone that they're passing by, anyone could be robbed," Black said.

Police described the suspects as two to four men wearing dark clothing, hoodies and black ski masks. Police said the suspects are armed with multiple guns.

"They did say one of them was armed and kind of waved some kind of gun with a laser or something on the end," Black said of the victims outside her bar.

The armed robberies have all taken place between midnight and 7 a.m. except for one that happened shortly after 11 p.m. A number of the incidents appear to have happened in quick succession in close proximity to each other.

Another spree of half a dozen robberies further north ended with a fiery crash in Ravenswood late Monday morning, Police said a group of thieves in a stolen car slammed into a city Streets and Sanitation truck and the car immediately burst into flames.

RELATED: Suspects in 6 Chicago robberies end hour-long spree with fiery crash

Police are now working to determine if those overnight robberies are connected to the incidents in Humboldt Park, Ukrainian Village and Logan Square.

Anyone with information should contact Area Three detectives at 312-744-8263, Area Four detectives at 312-746-8253 or Area Five detectives at 312-746-7394.

This is the full list of robberies:

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