Jan. 27--At least seven taxi or Uber drivers have been robbed since just before Christmas in a small area of downtown Chicago in or near the Loop, police said.
Two robberies occurred in the 100 block of North Michigan Avenue, two on the 100 block of North State Street, two in the first block east of State on Randolph Street and one on Lake Street just east of State.
The robberies occurred between Dec. 22 and Jan. 19.
Young men have used "various ruses" to distract drivers in order to steal cellphones. The distractions include having one young man try to hand the driver a flier while someone else opens the front door and snatches the phone, distracting a driver who's driving and having a second passenger grab the phone, and in one incident, a phone was taken at gunpoint.
The alert describes five young men, all of them black: one between the ages of 13 and 17; one between 21 and 23 who's 5-foot-4 and weighs between 145 and 155 pounds; one who is 24 to 27, is 5-foot-8 and 175 pounds; one who is from 20 to 25 years old, 5-foot-7 and 165 pounds; and one who is 15 to 17 years old, 5-foot-1 and 165 pounds.
