2 robbed at gunpoint in Lakeview in 3 hours

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Armed robbers targeted two different people Tuesday evening in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood. In each incident, the victims were robbed outside their apartments.

Around 7 p.m., two men robbed a 26-year-old man at gunpoint on his front steps in the 1300-block of West Nelson Street. One of the suspects pointed a gun at him during the robbery. Police said they left in a dark-colored SUV, which was stopped in a nearby alley. The man was not hurt.

About three hours later, less than half a mile south of the first incident, a 49-year-old woman was approached by a group of men who asked for her purse. When she refused, the men knocked her to the ground, took her purse, and fled in a dark-colored sedan. The woman was not injured, police said.

"You feel for the woman. You also know that that could be my wife, my neighbor's wife. It could be me. Taking out the trash to the alley, you're concerned. You want to be safe. We were actually putting up extra lights along our gangway," said Daniel Ballenger, who lives in Lakeview.

Police said it is unclear if the two robberies are related. Investigators have not released a detailed description of the suspects or their vehicles. No one is in custody.