'Help us': Chicago street vendors fight for more protection after several robberies, assaults
CHICAGO (WLS) -- There is a united push for safer working conditions among street vendors in Little Village. More than a dozen vendors came together Friday near 26th and Albany in hopes of getting more protection on these streets.
The 25th Ward alderman, Byron Sigcho Lopez, said there have been several robberies and assaults to street vendors in the area over the last few months.
"We are demanding of the City of Chicago the same public safety measures that we have in every other neighborhood," Alderman Lopez said.
Some of those vendors described what they've recently dealt with.
Maria Isabel Bonilla Mendez has been robbed twice in the last two months
"They're also harming us in a psychological way," she said. "We can't work like this because there's a lot of insecurity. They come and they rob us at gun point."
Alderman Lopez said another street vendor was shot earlier this week and is now recovering at home with non-life-threatening injuries.
That's why the vendors all signed off on a letter which they brought to city hall Friday, as they demand better working conditions and police protection.
RELATED: CPD investigating 2 more Chicago robberies that happened minutes apart
"Somebody to come just to rob us because they want the money? No, it's not fair. We need somebody to help us to have more security in the morning and always here," said Mercedes Alvarez, a street vendor.
The alderman said they plan on continuing to follow up with the mayor's office and the police department throughout the next several weeks and months. However, to this point, they have not received a response from either.
