Robbers armed with knives struck at least six times in just over an hour Monday afternoon on Chicago’s North Side, according to police.
Among the victims in the crime spree was a group of eighth-grade boys held at knifepoint near Wrightwood and Greenview Avenues in the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
A father of one of the boys told NBC 5 his 14-year-old son was with two friends after school heading to Wrightwood Park for running practice when they were startled by men who approached them holding knives.
The suspects then demanded the boys’ cellphones before taking off in a dark car, police said.
One Lincoln Park resident, Jacob Mathers, told NBC 5 he couldn’t believe the rash of crime was happening in his area during broad daylight.
“It’s pretty frightening to hear,” Mathers said. “In this neighborhood, especially, because there are a lot of families and kids running around and playing.”
The incident with the children was just one of a half of a dozen reported knifepoint robberies in the span of an hour and 16 minutes Monday, police said.
Several blocks on Greenview Avenue were targeted, according to police, as well as surrounding streets in Bucktown, Lakeview, and Lincoln Park neighborhoods.
Authorities believe the men grab their victims, at times putting them into a headlock, before robbing them and running off to a waiting car. The car has been described as a black Nissan or Honda, police said.
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Anyone with information is asked to call Area North detectives at (312) 744-8263.
