PORTAGE PARK — Police are warning Northwest Side businesses to be cautious after a series of armed robberies this month, and to be on the lookout for a man wanted in connection with the incidents.
In most of the attacks, the man enters the business, approaches the cashier armed with a handgun. The man has taken cash and cigarettes in several of the robberies, police said.
The incidents happened in the:
• 3100 block of West Addison Avenue at 9:30 p.m. June 3
• 4400 block of North Cicero Avenue at 8:30 p.m. June 14
• 3500 block of North Cicero Avenue at 1:40 a.m. June 16
• 4700 block of West Fullerton Avenue at 2 a.m. June 16
• 4200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue at 9:59 p.m. June 16
During the June 16 robbery of the Citgo gas station at 4219 N. Milwaukee Ave., the man and a female accomplice held four people in the station's back room while taking nearly $1,000 as well as cigars and cigarettes, police said.
The man is described as a dark-complected black man, between 20 and 30 years old, between 5-foot-9 and 6-feet tall, and between 170 and 180 pounds.
During one of the robberies, the man wore a white T-shirt, black or blue jeans, gym shoes, a blue backpack and a red Chicago Bulls baseball cap. During another robbery, he was wearing a red T-shirt, police said.
His accomplice is described as a black woman between 20 and 30 years old. She wore a white T-shirt with a Caesars Palace logo, shorts and Chicago White Sox baseball cap.
Police urged business owners in the area to check to make sure their surveillance cameras are working and report suspicious people in the area immediately.
After a robbery, business owners should strive to provide police with a detailed description of the suspects as well as any information about his or her vehicle, license plate information as well as which way they went, police said.
Anyone with information can call detectives at 312-747-8263.
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