WICKER PARK — A 25-year-old man was held up at gunpoint by two men late Friday morning in an alley behind a Wicker Park strip mall and forced to give up his phone and car, police said.
The man was carjacked in the alley behind the 1600 block of North Milwaukee Avenue shortly after 11 a.m., said Officer Thomas Sweeney, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
The man was approached by two men, one of whom was armed with a handgun, and "relieved of his mobile phone and his silver-colored 2016 Chevy Cruze," Sweeney said.
The victim was not injured, and the car was recovered around noon in the 2700 block of West Lake Street, Sweeney said.
Sweeney said no one is in custody, and Area North detectives are investigating.
The daytime incident on the busy block has sparked outrage from at least one neighborhood leader.
"It's unfortunate that these violent carjackings continue in Bucktown while our local police district continues to suffer from lack of manpower. There is no deterrent to these criminals. They operate with impunity. When will this end?" Steve Jensen, president of the Bucktown Community Organization, asked.
A witness who saw police arrive said that the carjacking happened in an alley behind a Verizon store, where Concord Street and North Avenue meet. The alley runs from The Robey hotel to the south and the Verizon store to the north.
