WICKER PARK — Two couples walking home from dinner together on Saturday night were robbed by armed men who pushed the women to the ground and pointed guns at the men, police said.
A third couple were robbed about 45 minutes after the first incident.
The first case occurred around 10:45 p.m. in the 1800 block of West Evergreen Avenue, at the corner of Evergreen and Wicker Park avenues. The second incident, a similar robbery, occurred in the 1700 block of North Honore Street.
Both incidents were shared on the online Neighborhood Watch Facebook pages by the victims or witnesses. Officers Michelle Tannehill and Laura Amezaga, Chicago Police spokeswomen, confirmed the armed robberies.
In the first armed robbery, Chuck Droege, an East Village resident, said that he and his wife along with another married couple, were walking home after having dinner at Hot Chocolate, 1747 N. Damen Ave.
Droege said the armed robbers knocked the wives, who had been walking behind their husbands, to the ground first. They grabbed the women's purses and then pointed guns at the men.
The robbers then ran toward Milwaukee Avenue with two purses and two wallets, he said.
Though Tannehill said that the police report indicates only one of the two men were armed, Droege told DNAinfo that both men had guns.
Droege described the armed robbers as black men in their late teens or early 20s "who came rushing up behind us as we headed south."
Droege said the thieves took somewhere around $500 in cash about another $500 in gift cards from the two couples. They also took two cellphones from the women.
In the second incident, Amezaga said that a couple were held up at gunpoint in the 1700 block of North Honore Street around 11:29 p.m., just south of the elevated Bloomingdale Trail.
Amezaga said the robbers, who approached from behind the couple as they were walking, were described as two black men 20 to 25 years old.
They reportedly told the victims "Give me your money" before robbing them, police said.
In both cases, the offenders fled. No one is in custody and police are investigating.
"It felt more like bad luck than anything and we'll still be walking at night. The police have been very professional and responsive," Droege said.
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