CHICAGO — People have robbed delivery drivers in Austin three times in July, according to police.
During the robberies, people called in a delivery order and then robbed the delivery driver at gunpoint, according to a Chicago Police Department business alert.
The incidents occurred:
• 5:15 p.m. July 1 in the 100 block of North Pine Avenue
• 12:30 a.m. July 4 in the 200 block of North Mayfield Avenue
• 2:15 a.m. July 10 in the 600 block of Lockwood Avenue
Delivery drivers have been targeted in the past: A driver who asked to be identified only as Connie had been robbed four times in four winters, once at gunpoint, as a driver, according to a March 9 DNAinfo story.
At the time, Martin Maloney, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department, said "this type of robbery is not common." He said robbery citywide were down 6 percent from March 2014 to this March.
Some restaurant owners and drivers disagreed, with Miguel De Arcos, of De Arcos Pizza in South Chicago, saying his drivers were being targeted once a week on average.
"It's not a very safe job," said Craig Gernhardt, 53. Gernhardt was using a bike to make deliveries in Rogers Park and Edgewater. "You're driving around all alone without any protection, with cash, and you're being called to an address where you have no idea who's there waiting for you."
Anyone with information about the recent robberies is asked to call police at 312-744-8263.
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