Jan. 23--Police are warning shop owners and residents on the Northwest Side of a series of convenience store robberies that happened in the past six weeks.
Four robberies occurred between Dec. 7 and Jan. 13 in the Galewood, Montclare and Belmont Gardens neighborhoods, according to a Chicago police statement.
In the incidents, the robbers started a conversation with a store employee over merchandise, displayed a handgun or implied they had a weapon and took items from the store, according to the statement.
In two of the robberies, two suspects took cartons of cigarettes. In the other two incidents, a man walked into a store and stole money from the register.
The first robbery happened around 3:20 a.m. Dec. 7 in the 6800 block of West North Avenue, and the second took place about 9:10 p.m. Jan. 3 in the 2700 block of North Harlem Avenue, police said.
Two men are suspected in the Dec. 7 and Jan. 3 robberies. One is white, between 28 and 35 years old. He is about 6 feet and weighs between 170 and 190 pounds. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black jeans. The second is black between 30 and 36 years old. He is about 6 feet tall and weighs 220 to 250 pounds. He was wearing a black, fur-lined jacket and black jeans.
Two more robberies (about 1:25 p.m. Jan. 8 and 9:40 a.m. Jan. 13) occurred in the 2900 block of North Pulaski Road, authorities said.
The suspect in the Pulaski robberies is a white man between 20 and 30 years old, about 5 feet 9 inches, weighs about 175 pounds and has blond hair. He was wearing a partial face mask, hooded green jacket and blue jeans. He had a dark-colored handgun, police said.
Anyone with information about the robberies should contact Area North detective at 312-744-8263.
