Police say armed robbery on Hutchinson St. in Portage part of larger spree

by BRIAN NADIG

A March 16 armed robbery in the 4800 block of West Hutchinson Street in Portage Park may been connected to a series of at least 13 robberies on the same day and another incident on March 14, according to Chicago police.

A group of four or five men reportedly would jump out of vehicles and point guns at the victims, demanding wallets and other property, according to police. They were armed with black handguns, rifles and knives, and in one incident an assailant fired a gunshot toward a woman, striking her in the neck and shoulder, police said.

The gunmen were described as Black, age 18 to 30, 5-10 to 6-0, with a slim build and wearing black ski masks, black hooded sweatshirts and black jogging pants or jeans, police said.

The incident on Hutchinson was reported to have occurred at about 1:15 p.m.

A woman reported that she exited her vehicle after a gunman approached the driver’s side window and that three or four other men began circling her car but were unable to gain entry, police said. The men then demanded her keys, cell phone and money before they returned to a white Hyundai sedan and left, police said.

An unmarked police car began following the sedan, and the woman used her iPad to track her phone that the men had just stolen, police said. The sedan was abandoned a short time later at the location of another robbery on North Hamlin Avenue, where the assailants took a gold-colored Mercedes-Benz, police said.

The Hutchinson robbery was the only one reported in the 16th (Jefferson Park) District, police said. Most took place in the 14th (Shakespeare) and 25th (Grand-Central) districts, police said.

The March 16 robberies were reported to have occurred between 6:05 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of North Linder Avenue, 1700 block of North Lotus Avenue, 4200 block of West Armitage Avenue, 2300 block of North Springfield Avenue, 2800 block of North Harding Avenue, 2300 block of North Lawndale Avenue, 2000 block of North Campbell Avenue, 2600 block of North Mozart Street, 3000 block of North Spaulding Avenue, 4800 block of West Hutchinson Street, 2900 block of North Ridgeway Avenue, 3700 block of West George Street and 2700 block of North Lawndale Avenue.

Another similar incident was reported to have occurred at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday, March 14, in the 2600 block of West Fletcher Avenue.

In a different community alert, police reported that a robbery spree took place between 4 a.m. and 6:28 a.m. Friday, March 15, in the 1400 block of North Clark Street, 800 block of North LaSalle Street, 5100 block of West Roscoe Street and 1600 block of North Oakley Avenue.

In these incidents, assailants point black Glock semi-automatic weapons in the victim’s stomach or back of the head and demand personal property, police said. In two of these incidents, the assailants demanded the password for the cell phone and then snapped a photograph of the code using a different phone, police said.

The men were described as Black, age 18 to 26, 5-8 to 6-0, weighing 150 to 200 pounds and wearing black or gray hooded sweatshirts, black pants and white gym shoes, police said.

Police urge residents to be aware of their surroundings and to walk in groups.

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