It all happened in a matter of seconds.
Jeremiah Watson was walking to a gas station Oct. 28 near 76th Street and South Chicago Avenue when a group of people surrounded him and pointed a gun in his face.
They beat him up, smacked him with the gun and stole the cash he had.
Watson, 29, went to the hospital and received six stitches. The scarring has started to fade, but Watson remains on high alert when walking in his Avalon Park neighborhood.
“I’ve really been staying in the house lately,” Watson told the Sun-Times. “Especially when it’s getting dark, I’m indoors somewhere. I gave them [police] the best description that I could give, but I haven’t received word or anything at all that, ‘yeah, we got these guys.’”
Watson is not alone in his experience. City data analyzed by WBEZ indicates Chicago is seeing its largest spike in robberies in more than two decades.
There were nearly 4,900 robberies between July 1 and Nov. 26, an increase of more than 55% compared to the total for the previous five months. That’s the largest increase in robberies between consecutive five-month periods since at least 2001 — the earliest year tracked in the city’s online crime portal.
Humboldt Park, West Garfield Park and East Garfield Park saw the highest robbery rates in the city during the July-November surge, with essentially one robbery reported for every 200 residents in those communities during those five months, according to the analysis by WBEZ. Humboldt Park, along with the Austin and West Town community areas, also saw the highest number of total robberies reported during that time.
It’s unclear why the surge is taking place.
A Chicago Police Department statement didn’t address potential reasons for the spike but said since July, the department has enhanced its efforts to combat robberies, resulting in a 25.8% increase in robbery arrests compared to the same period in 2022, according to its data.
“We will continue to hold these offenders accountable and pursue justice for all victims,” the statement said.
Lance Williams, a professor of urban community studies at Northeastern Illinois University, also was unsure why robberies have increased so dramatically, but said what stands out to him is that “again, the Black neighborhoods that have been struggling continue to struggle.”
Overall, total robberies in the city are lower compared to where they were from 2001 to 2013, and again in 2016 and 2017, when robbery totals surpassed 10,000 each year. But with more than 8,700 total robberies reported through late November, the city is on pace to see the most robberies since 2017.
Armed robberies increased markedly between July and Thanksgiving
Armed robberies appeared to be driving the recent spike in robberies, according to the WBEZ analysis. About 3,600 armed robberies were reported between July 1 and Nov. 26 of this year, a 75% increase compared to the number reported during the previous five months.
Daniel Penates, 34, was leaving a bar near the Mag Mile in the early hours of Oct. 22 when someone approached him from behind and hit him on the back of his head. Penates was able to throw the attacker off, and he kept walking, but the man got up and approached again, this time pulling out a gun.
“Next thing you know, I hear somebody running behind me and when I turn around he has the gun pointed straight at my head,” Penates told the Sun-Times. “He said, ‘Do something stupid again, and I’m gonna shoot you.”
Penates, who lives in Miami but is in Chicago for work, handed over his phone and the chain he was wearing.
“My chain cost a lot of money, but my life is worth more,” Penates said.
He went to the police station the next morning to report the crime but did not expect many updates. The man was masked, so Penates was unable to offer any description to police.
His phone was later found about 20 blocks from the scene.
Penates said crimes like this are also common in Miami, but that he is extra cautious while in Chicago.
“I don’t care what time it is, as long as I’m walking, I don’t take out my phone,” Penates told the Sun-Times. “I’m always just looking around, vigilant. You always gotta be looking around 24/7.”
In 19 Chicago community areas, the robbery total doubled or more than doubled this year during the five months from July 1 through Nov. 26 compared to the previous five months — primarily in communities on the Southwest and Northwest sides.
The Logan Square, Lower West Side and Belmont Cragin communities were already experiencing higher numbers of robberies this year but saw their figures rise more during the July-November surge, when their totals ranked among the 10 highest neighborhoods in the city.
John Cook and his girlfriend were parked outside her apartment building near the border of Logan Square and Bucktown in late October when all of a sudden someone pointed a gun at them through the windshield.
“Both the doors just flew open,” Cook, 22, told the Sun-Times. “There was a guy in the front of the hood with a gun, guys on either side and a guy in the car as well. They just took our phones and wallets, nothing else. They didn’t really check our bags, our jackets … It was all done within five seconds.”
As soon as the robbers began driving away, Cook spotted a police car heading in the other direction.
“I flagged him down and made the police report within two minutes of being robbed,” Cook said.
Cook’s wallet was recovered just a few blocks away with only a credit and debit card missing — the cards were never even used. The couple’s phones were also dropped somewhere in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
In Cook’s eyes, there seemed to be no explanation for the robbery.
‘Where’s the f- - -ing cash?’
In West Town, one area with the highest total number of robberies in the last five months, Emily and her roommate had just returned to their apartment at about 3:30 p.m. Oct. 22 when they noticed a car driving toward them.
“They came from far away … It was a bit weird. It was coming really fast. I thought: ‘Jeez, they’re going to hit me,’’’ said Emily, 29, who asked to be referred to only by her first name.
When the car stopped right next to them, three or four young men in their late teens or early 20s wearing hoods over their faces jumped out with guns drawn. They screamed, “‘Where’s the f---ing cash?’’’ she recalled.
The robbers took their purses, wallets, a fanny pack and a makeup bag before speeding away.
“We got everything back except for the money,” Emily said. “They drained all my change too — and left me a penny. I call it my lucky penny.”
Police told them the same group robbed seven or eight people right after them.
In November, the Chicago Police Department issued at least 15 community alerts warning residents about rashes of robberies occurring across the city. In many of those alerts, offenders would drive up to victims who were on foot or in their own vehicles, exit their vehicles wielding firearms, and commit the robberies.
WBEZ also analyzed city crime data to find other instances in which three or more robberies were committed within an hour in the same community area. The analysis showed that those robbery blitzes increased dramatically during the five-month jump.
From February through June this year, citywide daily robbery totals never surpassed 45. Since July 1, that has happened at least 20 times — about once a week.
Most robberies over Thanksgiving holiday in 7 years
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, there were at least 281 people robbed between Wednesday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 26 — the highest number reported over the holiday since 2016.
Chicago police have issued community alerts about at least five robbery sprees during that period.
One robbery during that time involved an off-duty Chicago police officer who was robbed of his star, badge and gun on the Northwest Side.
Ald. Felix Cardona Jr. (31st), who represents the ward where the officer was robbed, said residents are frustrated and scared.
“They know that the police are doing their job, but their hands are tied,” Cardona Jr. told the Sun-Times.
He added that changes to the police department’s no-chase policy would better equip officers to address this increase in crime, but the department says arrests have increased.
The police department told the Sun-Times that personnel from the Bureau of Patrol and the Bureau of Detectives meet weekly to “identify and review patterns,” related to robberies and motor vehicle thefts.
In these meetings, they also discuss strategic deployment and “leveraging technology as part of the investigations.” Police department officials did not provide any further details.
Williams, who works closely with several Chicago-area violence prevention groups, says the issue will not be solved by police but by investments in the community.
“You have to invest in the infrastructure of the neighborhood,” Williams said. “You have to bring viable businesses into the neighborhood. You got to bring in functioning social services, invest in the schools in order to help those individuals. And the city is just overwhelmed with that task.”
Contributing: Rosemary Sobol
