A camera operator watching a Chicago Police Department surveillance feed spotted four men robbing a couple near Grant Park early Tuesday, touching off a chase that stretched from Lake Shore Drive to a stairwell at the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line station, where officers recovered at least one weapon and took the crew into custody.
According to CWB Chicago, the four men approached a 21-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man in the 300 block of East Monroe Street around 3:15 a.m. Tuesday and displayed weapons before taking property from the pair. Police said a nearby surveillance camera caught the robbery as it unfolded, and a police officer monitoring the feed directed patrol units to the scene.
From Old Town to a Chinatown Stairwell
The vehicle involved, a stolen gray Hyundai Sonata, had earlier been the target of patrol officers who interrupted an attempted auto theft near Sedgwick and Evergreen in Old Town, per the report. The thieves sped away from that scene, leaving another vehicle behind with its doors open, before the same car was allegedly used hours later in the Grant Park robbery.
Suspects abandoned the Hyundai in a Chinatown parking lot, and police caught up with them nearby. Officers chased all four suspects on foot and arrested the crew in the 100 block of West Cermak Road, police said, per CWB Chicago’s reporting. At least one weapon was recovered on the stairs of the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line station, a stop that has served as a primary transit access point for the Armour Square neighborhood since it was rebuilt in 2011, according to Chicago-L.org.
Victims Reluctant, Then Confirmed the Arrests
The Grant Park victims initially declined to sign complaints and refused to travel to Chinatown to identify the suspects, the outlet’s report states. They eventually agreed to make the trip and confirmed that police had arrested the correct individuals. Charges were still pending as of Tuesday morning, police said…