CHICAGO — University of Chicago police put out an alert about five off campus robberies that happened in a six-hour span Thursday that all shared similar details.
The first incident happened around 11:30 a.m. on the 1200 block of East 53rd Street. A person walking to their car in an off-campus parking lot was approached by a suspect who grabbed the person’s purse. The person struggled but the suspect gained control of the bag and fled to a waiting dark colored Kia sedan that drove off.
Twenty minutes later, two armed robberies happened on the 5500 block of South Harper Avenue. In both cases, the victims were approached by two suspects — one was armed with a gun. In both instances, the people were robbed and the suspects got into a car afterward.
Later that same day, around 5:20 p.m. on the 1600 block of East 50th Street, an armed suspect approached someone walking, struck the person, took their bag and fled to a waiting sedan. The person robbed denied medical attention.
Just a few minutes later, at 58th Street and Stony Island Avenue at 5:25 p.m., police said two people approached someone who was walking on the sidewalk.
One of the suspects struck the person, took their bag and then jumped into a dark colored Kia that was waiting. As they drove off, the person was struck in the leg. They were taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Police are investigating the armed robberies.