Crime & Safety

Violent Oak Park Robberies Probed

Recent attacks prompt police response.

Police in Oak Park are investigating a series of armed robberies and robbery attempts that took place throughout the village last week.

"We don't believe at this time that all of them are connected, but there may be some similarities with some of them," said Police Cmdr. LaDon Reynolds.

The first armed robbery took place Oct. 25, around 11:25 p.m. in the 400 block of Berkshire Street. According to police reports, two men approached the 71-year-old victim and forced him to the ground.

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One of the assailants aimed a blue steel handgun at the victim's head while the other removed a cell phone from his pocket, police said. The phone is valued at $100.

The victim suffered cuts and a bump on the head but was not seriousy hurt.

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One day later, two armed robberies occurred on the north and south sides of Oak Park, police said.  

The first took place around 4:30 p.m. when a man walking along Roosevelt Road was mugged and robbed of his wallet.

The victim, a 43-year-old Oak Park man, was about a block away from his residence in the 6000 block of Roosevelt Road when he was struck in the back of the head with a beer bottle, police said.

The attackers swiped the man's wallet from his front pants pocket before running away.  The victim was treated at the scene with minor injuries.

Police believe there were two attackers, both described as black male teens, about 5-feet 8-inches to 5-feet 10-inches tall. Both have "thin to medium builds" and were wearing dark clothes during the attack.  

The second armed robbery took place around 11:30 p.m. at the 7-Eleven, 240 Chicago Ave., where a man approached the counter, flashed a black handgun and demanded cash from the store's register.

The clerk complied and handed over $50 before the robber ran away into a beige-colored car. Police said they are reviewing surveillance tape of the incident.

Sunday police responded to another violent robbery.

This time, a 35-year-old Chicago man, was walking in the 100 block of Chicago Avenue around 8:45 p.m., when a van carrying three or four people pulled up behind him, according to a police report.

Several of the men exited the van and started punching the victim, police said. The attackers stole the man's mp3 player and bicycle before hopping in the van and speeding away.

No arrests have been made in those cases.

While authorities continue their investigations into those incidents, police said two more robberies were thwarted last week, each by different sets of circumstance.

In one attack, a 28-year-old man was walking near his residence in the 200 block of South Oak Park Avenue around 11 p.m. Thursday when he was jumped by two people who forced the man to the ground and tried to swipe the bag he was carrying.

A witness spotted the attack and began screaming, which prompted the would-be thieves to run away.

The attackers match the descriptions of those offered by the victim in the Roosevelt Road incident, police said.

In the second stymied attack, a 59-year-old Chicago man was awaiting a train at the Harlem Avenue station, 1116 South Blvd., around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday when he was approached by an unidentified attacker.

The two began fighting and the assailant reached for the victim's wallet, which was in his front pants pocket. The victim was somehow knocked onto the train tracks and the attacker ran off onto Harlem Avenue.

The victim was not seriously hurt, authorities said.

The attacker in this case was described as a black male, about 30 to 40 years old with a thin build. He has facial blemishes and was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and dark pants.

In the wake of the attacks, police said they're beefing up their presence in the area.

"We've stepped up patrols in area in the effort to, number one, try to ensure it doesn't happen again and, number two, if it does, to apprehend the offender," said Police Deputy Chief Anthony Ambrose. "Any time we get a robbery, or any type of crime, especially a crime in which any type of violence occurs, it's upsetting."


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