Suspect sought for armed robberies in Little Italy, South Loop

CHICAGO – Chicago police are searching for a suspect who targeted four businesses in Little Italy and the South Loop Friday evening.

“It’s obviously scary, but I’ve never had any problems as far as armed robberies,” said Howard Blair, owner of Sid’s Clothing and Hats.

Blair acknowledged that while it’s alarming that two armed robberies happened near his shop on Friday evening, such incidents are rare in the 65 years he’s been in business.

Other employees in the area shared that sentiment.

“We’ve definitely heard of other criminal activity here and there, not something as serious as an armed robbery,” Vitamin Shoppe employee Alex Gonzalez said.

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Chicago police said four businesses in Little Italy and South Loop were targeted between 6:23 p.m. and 7:02 p.m. Friday.

The first incident happened in the 1100 block of West Taylor Street where a Subway employee said his coworkers were impacted. About 25 minutes later, another business in the 600 block of West Roosevelt Road was hit.

Eight minutes after that, a robbery happened in the 1400 block of West Taylor followed by the suspect’s final stop in the 500 block of West Roosevelt Road just four minutes later.

CPD believes all incidents are connected.

Police said the suspect entered the businesses, announced the robbery and showed a weapon. In three of the four incidents, the suspect handed the employees a not indicating he was robbing the store.

“We are open here we always have the doors open, so something like that can be concerning…even the customers who come inside,” Gonzalez said.

Blair meanwhile said he’s concerned the incidents happened while the sun was still up. While he’s been lucky to avoid any incidents like this, he said he’s taken a proactive approach by closing his store earlier.

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“Started doing that a few years ago just because I don’t want to go when it’s dark. Try to get out of here and be safe,” Blair said.

Gonzalez said his managers at the Vitamin Shoppe have established procedures to follow if he or his coworkers feel their safety is compromised. He sincerely hopes no one working in the area will have to face any armed robberies again.

“It’s a lot of please keep the doors locked or only open, but even then when do we know?” Gonzalez said.

Police said the suspect managed to steal money from two businesses. No arrests have been made.

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