NW INDIANA ROBBERY SUSPECTS MAY BE TARGETING CHICAGO
A trio of brazen thieves, who struck three times in less than an hour in broad daylight last week in northwest Indiana, may have struck again in a series of morning attacks in Chicago, the last one leaving an elderly man wounded on the Southwest Side.
Hammond detectives “are working directly with Chicago Police in connection with the early morning robberies that took place in Chicago,” Hammond Police Lt. Steven Kellogg said.
Chicago Police also sent out a community alert on Thursday, warning of a series of at least nine other robberies in Brighton Park, Back of the Yards and Gage Park neighborhoods that follow the same pattern.
He said the robbers work extremely quickly, strike early in the morning, and only go after the most vulnerable targets.
In the latest incident, about 6: 30 a. m. Thursday, “two black males robbed and shot a man in Chicago. We are following up with Chicago Police to see if these are the same two individuals who came to Hammond and conducted early morning robberies in our city last week,” Kellogg said.
The 73- year- old victim was shot during the attempted robbery in the West Lawn neighborhood, according to Chicago Police.
He was walking on the sidewalk in the 6100 block of South Kenneth when a male suspect exited a black SUV and told him to hand over his belongings.
The man refused to comply and the suspect fired shots, striking him in the abdomen, police said. The shooter then got back in the SUV, which sped away.
The man was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was stabilized, police said.
On Wednesday, there were five more robberies: in the 3500 block of West 38th Place, the 3300 block of West 38th Place, the 4400 block of South Campbell, 3100 block of West 42nd Place, and 5200 block of South Mozart, all between 6: 25 and 6: 40 a. m.
And last Friday, there were robberies in the 4400 block of South Talman, 3800 block of South Albany, 2600 block of West 38th Street, and 1600 block of West 46th Street, all between 4: 30 and 5: 30 a. m.
The suspects were described as black males between 16- 20, wearing hoodies and bandanas.