CHICAGO – The chain theft problem appears to have moved north. Two incidents have been reported along the lakeshore this week: one at Belmont Harbor and one at North Avenue Beach.
On Wednesday afternoon, two men ripped off a woman’s chain near the Belmont Harbor dock around 4 p.m. They ran north after the crime.
Then, around 6:30 p.m. Thursday, two men grabbed a woman, threw her against a fence, strangled her and took her necklace in the 1500 block of North Lake Shore Drive. They fled under Lake Shore Drive to the lakeshore after the robbery, with one riding a bicycle.
In both robberies, the men were described as Hispanic. Wednesday’s suspects were both wearing baseball caps, and one was larger than the other, an officer at the scene said. On Thursday, the primary robber was wearing a white T-shirt and a face mask.
Chain robberies have been on the rise since a wave of such crimes were reported by fans leaving Lollapalooza over the summer. Most of the incidents since then have occurred in the Loop and along the downtown lakefront.
Chicago police finally issued their first warning about the crime pattern two weeks ago.
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