CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago police detectives are investigating a series of armed robberies that occurred early Thursday morning just minutes and blocks apart in the River North neighborhood, one incident involving a shooting.
This comes less than a day after a police commander promised more weekend patrols to stem a spike in crime in the downtown neighborhood.
The attacks occurred within a span of about 30 minutes between 1:45 a.m. and 2:15 a.m. Thursday near Ontario and Franklin, Erie and Wells, and Erie and LaSalle.
The circumstances are similar: people jumping out of a gray or black SUV, armed with handguns, twice approaching and robbing people on the street, and in the third incident people sitting in a parked car.
In the first incident, around 1:45 a.m., three men were walking on the sidewalk in the 300 block of West Ontario Street when three armed men armed got out of a black SUV and took their wallets and phones, before running away.
Thirty minutes later, near Erie and Wells, three people got out of a black SUV - two men and a woman this time - and robbed a woman and two men who were sitting in a parked vehicle.
In that case, police said, a man, 31, struggled with one of the robbers and was shot in the back.
His friends took him to Rush University Medical Center, where he was listed in fair condition.
The woman told police she was robbed of two purses, and the other man in the car said his wallet and iPhone was stolen.
Minutes later, a few block away at Erie and LaSalle, police said four men jumped out of what was described as a gray SUV and robbed two men walking down the street at gunpoint.
It is unclear if any of the attacks are connected. Detectives will be gathering surveillance video attempting to identify the suspects in the latest street crimes in River North. No one was reported in custody.
On Wednesday afternoon, police officials told a neighborhood meeting they were increasing nightly foot patrols in River North on weekends after a recent uptick in violent crime.
"This is going to be a permanent presence," Deputy Chief Mike Barz told residents gathered at Moe's Cantina during a monthly Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) meeting for the 18th District.
Newly appointed 18th District Cmdr. Jon Hein declined to say how many additional officers were being deployed to River North during the weekends, or whether patrols were also being stepped up during the week.
Two killings occurred last month in the 18th District, compared to zero from the same time period last year, according to police data.
Overall, however, murders have fallen 33 percent in the district since this year, records show. But shootings have increased this year by 21 percent, up from 24 to 29. Sexual assaults and motor vehicle thefts are on the rise, too, records show.
(WBBM Newsradio and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this copy.)
