May 22--Police detectives are warning businesses in Lincoln Park, Bucktown and Austin about a man who's robbed at least three stores at knifepoint in recent weeks.
The man has entered stores and pretended he's going to buy something, but once at the counter, he's instead shown a knife and robbed the stores, according to an alert issued Thursday by Area North detectives.
The most recent robbery happened about 1:30 p.m. Monday at a store in the 5700 block of West North Avenue. Previous robberies took place about 1:20 p.m. May 13 at a store in the 2100 block of North Halsted Street and about 12:50 p.m. May 6 at a store in the 1600 block of North Damen Avenue, according to police.
The suspect is described as a black man about 35 years old, 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-7 and weighing 150 to 230 pounds. In the most recent robbery, in Austin, he was wearing a black jacket with red trim, red pants and black and red Nike gym shoes; in the Lincoln Park robbery, he was wearing a dark blue, hooded raincoat.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Area North detectives at 312-744-8263. Business owners or workers suspicious that a customer might be the suspect are asked to call 911, according to the alert.
