19-Oct-18 – An armed robbery and carjacking crew that has been the topic of two Chicago Police Department alerts this month is believed to have struck again three times on October 11 – including twice in Lincoln Park.

The team is likely responsible for at least nine robberies and vehicular hijackings on the North Side this month.

With crime increasing on the North Side, the city has placed Strategic Decision Support Centers in four North Side police districts and has deployed new security cameras throughout the area. Ultimately, there will be at least 500 high-definition police observation devices in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 24th police districts.

The technology was first tested in the 12th police district west of the Loop and, say police, has helped significantly reduce shootings, murders, carjackings, burglaries, and robberies.

The new cameras, which can be accessed in real time by the Support Center, allow police to watch and follow criminals virtually.

CPD is also expanding its License Plate Reader technology to 200 more patrol vehicles. The technology allows police to match license plates against a list of stolen vehicles sent to the readers daily by the Office of Emergency Management & Communications. If a reader detects a license plate from a vehicle reported as stolen, officers are immediately notified by the system and can conduct a stop to investigate further.

Gun displayed or implied in two recent incidents

A 20-year-old food delivery driver lost his 2011 Toyota Camry and iPhone to carjackers about one mile west of Lincoln Park Zoo on October 11. At about 12:25 a.m., the driver was approached by two men, one with a handgun, in the 800 block of West Dickens Avenue. They were last seen driving west on Dickens.

Ten minutes later and three blocks south, a 26-year-old woman was sitting in her 2018 Ford Fusion in the 800 block of West Willow Street when a man knocked on the rear door and implied he had a weapon. She was pulled from her car by a second man. The two then fled in her car.

(Left) Aerial view of Halsted & Willow, where second carjacking occurred. (Click on images to view larger versions.)

Police later saw the Ford Fusion traveling with another stolen car in the Woodlawn neighborhood south of the Loop. Both cars were recovered but their occupants slipped away. The Fusion was found in the Grand Crossing neighborhood south of Woodlawn.

The victims described the robbers as two black men in their late teens or early 20s, with slim builds, wearing hoodies. A police officer who chased one of the robbers said the suspect wore a gray hoodie with a red stripe on the side.