Chicago crime: Armed robbery sprees reported on South, Southwest sides

Police are investigating two strings of armed robberies on the Southwest and South sides, one of which included 10 armed robberies within 45 minutes.

The 10 robberies were reported between about 6:15 a.m. and 7 a.m. Saturday in the Brighton Park, Chicago Lawn, Gage Park and Lower West Side neighborhoods, Chicago police said.

Friday evening, six armed robberies were reported on the South Side. Five of them happened between 8 p.m. and 8:35 p.m., while the other was about 4:30 p.m., according to police.

It wasn’t clear if the sprees were connected.

In Saturday’s hold-ups, three or four male suspects approached people at gunpoint and stole their belongings before fleeing in a white four-door sedan, police said.

The suspects were described by police as males wearing black clothes and ski masks. They were armed with a black handgun or rifle, police said.

According to police, the robberies occurred Saturday about:

• 6:15 a.m. in the 2000 block of West Cullerton Street
• 6:15 a.m. in the 4500 block of South Fairfield Avenue
• 6:15 a.m. in the 5700 block of South Rockwell Street
• 6:30 a.m. in the 4500 block of South Washtenaw Avenue
• 6:40 a.m. in the 6000 block of South Campbell Avenue
• 6:47 a.m. in the 5800 block of South Campbell Avenue
• 6:50 a.m. in the 7200 block of South Fairfield Avenue
• 7 a.m. in the 7200 block of South Fairfield Avenue
• 7:03 a.m. in the 7300 block of South Talman Avenue.

Four people are suspected of committing the robberies Friday, which included one carjacking, police said.

The suspects in those incidents were described by police as males between 12 and 25 years old. They wore dark hooded sweatshirts and black ski masks, police said.

According to police, Friday’s robberies happened about:

• 4:30 p.m. in the 200 block of West 31st Street
• 8 p.m. in the 2000 block of South Calumet Avenue
• 8:10 p.m. in the 2000 block of South Wabash Avenue
• 8:18 p.m. in the 3700 block of South Lituanica Avenue
• 8:22 p.m. in the 400 block of West 28th Place
• 8:35 p.m. in the 2200 block of South Michigan Avenue.