WICKER PARK — A cashier at an Aldi in Wicker Park was robbed at gunpoint on Wednesday by a man pretending to be a shopper, witnesses said.
Shakespeare District officers responded to a call of a robbery Wednesday at Aldi, 1767 N. Milwaukee Ave., in Wicker Park, according to Officer Veejay Zala, a Chicago Police spokesman.
The man pretended to buy a bag of tortilla chips before he robbed the cashier at gunpoint, according to witnesses. After taking an unknown amount of cash, the man fled on foot going northbound on Leavitt Street, which runs underneath the nearby elevated Bloomingdale Trail, witnesses said. The gunman was described by witnesses as a black male, age 25 to 30, and wearing a red jacket.
A worker said the robbery happened quickly and "it was really busy [in the store] the whole time it happened."
"Thank god he didn't hurt her, and everyone is okay," the worker said, and Aldi employees said the cashier left work for the day afterwards.
Around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, the register where the incident occurred was closed and roped off with police tape.
The alleged robber left his fingerprints on several items in the store: a large bag of "restaurant style" tortilla chips, a sign used to indicate whether a checkout lane is open or closed and the register itself, a source told DNAinfo Chicago.
Laura Brannamen, Batavia Division vice president of Aldi, said, "We are cooperating fully with the Chicago Police Department on their investigation of this matter."
Sometime in January, developers are planning to demolish the Aldi and replace it with a 95-unit apartment building anchored by Aldi, which will return as the development's tenant. Aldi will be closed during the construction, set to be completed by the end of 2016, developers previously said.
Aldi register closed off with caution tape after a cashier was held up at gunpoint [DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser]
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