UChicago Chronicle #22

Life around the campus is not always easy. Here is a story from the past couple of days.

Around 1:05 a.m., Thursday, January 12, 2023, several university students walking on the sidewalk in 60^th Street, the south edge of the campus, were approached by three unknown suspects armed with handguns that exited a white Nissan sedan with Illinois License Plates. The suspects demanded and took property from two of the guys before reentering the white sedan that drove westbound toward Cottage Grove Avenue, which borders the campus on the west. Not the best neighoborhood. Nobody was injured or hurt in the incident.

In addition, University of Chicago Police Department was also notified of two additional robberies that were reported and occurred off-campus just prior to the crime described above.  Given the similar circumstances of these two additional incidents, it wass believed that all three incidents are related. Here are the details.

First, at approximately 12:55 a.m., a university faculty member was exiting their parked vehicle off-campus at 5342 S. Greenwood Ave, some 200 meters from my place, when four unknown suspects exited a white sedan and demanded the victim’s property before striking him.  After taking the victim’s property, the suspects reentered the white sedan and fled southbound.  The victim reported no physical injuries and declined medical attention. 

Second, at approximately 12:56 a.m., four university students were walking on the sidewalk off-campus at 5426 South Greenwood Avenue, the very same neigborhood (just one block away from the previous location), when they were approached by two unknown suspects armed with handguns who exited a white sedan and demanded property from four victims. The suspects took the victims’ property and fled southbound in the white sedan.  The victims reported no physical injuries and declined medical attention. 

After this harsh start, everything worked out fine in the end. At approximately 10:22 a.m., Thursday, January 12, 2023, University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) determined that the suspect vehicle, a white Nissan sedan bearing the reported Illinois License Plate, had returned to the area and was involved in several additional robberies.  UCPD quickly located the fleeing vehicle and after a pursuit, police officers detained and arrested multiple suspects and have turned them over to the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for processing.  In addition, UCPD recovered the suspect vehicle, which had recently been reported stolen to the CPD, as well as several weapons and proceeds from several robberies.  Police believe that these suspects were likely involved in at least six robberies in the surrounding area over the last 12 hours.  The CPD will determine all applicable charges and present the individual cases to the State’s Attorney when appropriate.  Images and videos from the University’s fixed and license plate reader camera network were instrumental in identifying the vehicle and providing information to responding UCPD and CPD officers.

That’s the story. At the same time, the campus and its area are really safe. There are security guards on EVERY corner every night. You cannot walk across the campus without meeting at least three patrols: units driving across the neighborhood. This is story is absolute positive: even if such an incident occured, suspects were arrested in a couple of hours.