CHICAGO – Police are investigating another jewelry theft robbery, the latest in a series of similar crimes first reported by CWBChicago Thursday morning.
A 37-year-old woman told Chicago police she was in the 300 block of South Financial Place around 10:42 a.m. Thursday when a man approached her. A police spokesperson said the man “forcibly took property from the victim and fled north.” We independently determined that the property was a gold chain and that the robber escaped on a motorized scooter.
The spokesperson added that the woman was not injured.
Officers were told to keep their eyes peeled for a man of unknown race wearing a gray T-shirt, gray shorts, two-tone shoes and a two-tone baseball cap. He was also carrying a backpack with white letters on it.
Previous reporting
Thursday morning we reported that thieves on bikes and scooters have taken jewelry and other valuables from people in the Loop, Streeterville and along the lakefront this week. The crimes are similar to incidents reported downtown during Lollapalooza and the ARC Music Festival in the West Loop a few weeks ago.
DePaul University issued a warning to its community Monday afternoon following an attack on one of its students near Jackson and State. The school said two men on a white motorcycle drove past her, and the second man grabbed her amulet and necklace from her neck around 3:22 p.m. The school said the driver was wearing a white “Tommy” hoodie, black pants and newer black and white Nike sneakers. It described the passenger as wearing a black hoodie, black pants and black sneakers. DePaul does not identify the race of suspects in its crime alerts.
More incidents were reported on Wednesday afternoon:
- Around noon, two men, one on a scooter and the other on a bicycle, pushed a man’s gold chain near Illinois and Peshtigo in Streeterville. The suspects were described as two Hispanic males, one on a green scooter wearing a black hoodie and the other older, 6 feet tall, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. They were last seen heading to the lakefront on Illinois Street.
- About 2:30 p.m., two men on a single bicycle took a woman’s jewelry and belongings on the Lakefront Trail, just south of Armitage. They were described as Hispanic men in their 20s, one wearing red and the other black.
- Another victim called 911 from Streeterville around 3:50 p.m. to report that a man had snatched his chain near the lake. He said a Spanish man grabbed his chain and then ran to meet a second Spanish man, who was waiting with a bicycle. The victim described one of the suspects as “bigger” and wearing a red shirt. The victim chose not to report the incident to the police.
- A woman had her necklace snatched near Lake Street and North Riverside Plaza in the West Loop around 4 p.m. She described the thief as a black man wearing a green and white jacket with an orange triangle design on the back.
Prosecutors charged two migrants last month with stealing necklaces and phones from Lollapalooza concertgoers as the festivalgoers left Grant Park at night. The men, who were arrested hours apart, are not charged with cooperation.
Edinson Yanez, 23, allegedly committed three robberies, including one that left the victim with broken ribs, after Lollapalooza ended Sunday evening, August 4.
On August 4 around 11 p.m., Yanez allegedly drove an electric scooter into a 26-year-old suburban man and stole the victim’s gold chain at 55 East Jackson. Prosecutors said Yanez bit and struck the man with the scooter, causing he broke two ribs.
While police were speaking with the victim, they learned that other CPD officers had apprehended a suspect who allegedly robbed two other men in the 300 block of South Dearborn, according to a police report.
In that case, two men from suburban Atlanta, one 19 and the other 26, said Yanez grabbed one of them by the shirt and took his phone and chain. Yanez tried but failed to take the chain from the second man, prosecutors said. Police tracked the phone’s location to locate Yanez in the area.
Kent Minaya Munoz, 33, is accused of participating in a similar incident that same evening. Prosecutors said he took the chain from the man in the 300 block of South Dearborn. The victim said he tried to chase the thief, but other people intervened and stopped him so he couldn’t continue the chase.
The victim described one of the people holding him down, and police took him for a ride to see if they could spot the man, according to a CPD report. When they arrived at the corner of Plymouth and Van Buren, the victim saw Munoz lying on the sidewalk wearing the clothing he described, the report said.
On September 1, Jonas Alcala-Arteaga, 30, and Yunior Amaro-Blanco, 24, both Venezuelan migrants, were arrested separately while the ARC Festival was in progress at Union Park, 1501 West Randolph.
According to a Chicago police report, a 37-year-old Schaumburg man told police someone stepped on his foot shortly after he entered the concert site around 6 p.m. The report stated that when he confronted the other person, Alcala-Arteaga grabbed the man’s gold chain and locket and ran away.
The alleged victim saw Alcala-Arteaga again about 15 minutes later, but Alcala-Arteaga reportedly walked away again. When Alcala-Arteaga tried to run from a third encounter with the man, he tripped and fell, allowing the victim to grab him and hold him until security arrived, the report said.
Alcala-Arteaga, who listed the Standard Club shelter as his home address, is charged with theft.
About an hour later, Amaro-Blanco allegedly grabbed a 25-year-old man and ripped two chains worth $6,000 from his neck. That victim quickly grabbed Amaro-Blanco and held him until ARC security arrived to turn him over to Chicago police, according to a separate CPD report, which said the second victim recovered one of his chains.
Amaro-Blanco is also charged with theft.
