http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304778304576375661383528354.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
JUNE 9, 2011, 2:00 P.M. ET
Chicago Police Brace for ‘Flash Mob’ Attacks
By JULIE JARGON And ILAN BRAT
CHICAGO—Police here are girding for another weekend of “flash mob” attacks after arresting 29 people in connection with a recent rash of assaults and robberies in and around the city’s tony shopping and dining district.
Twelve crimes involving large groups of young men were reported last weekend, in addition to others earlier this spring. The incidents are some of the first major problems confronting newly appointed Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.
The attacks have received wide attention in Chicago because they have occurred around the city’s affluent north side, including near the “Magnificent Mile,” a Michigan Avenue strip popular with tourists.
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/123554024.html
Mob Attack Reported Near Red Line
By Lisa Balde
Thursday, Jun 9, 2011 | Updated 12:40 PM CDT
A man was mugged Thursday morning in the area that new Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said he’s already targeting for mob attacks.
A 35-year-old man was leaving the Chicago Red Line station on his way to work when five people punched him and took his iPod and cash, Chicago police said.
A woman in the group grabbed his iPad, he told police, and when he tried to get it back, a man punched him in the face. Members of the group are estimated to be between 15 and 25 years old.
On Wednesday, another man was assaulted and robbed of his iPhone and wallet aboard a CTA Brown Line train. The incident occurred near the Chicago and Franklin station, according to witnesses.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/06/09/mob-attack-reported-in-red-line-subway/
Mob Attack Reported In Red Line Subway
June 9, 2011 11:20 AM
UPDATED 06/09/11 12:55 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) – Another mob attack has been reported on a CTA train, this time in the Red Line subway in the wee hours Thursday morning.
A 35-year-old Evanston man was on his way to work on a Red Line train at the Chicago Avenue stop around 4:30 a.m., when five suspects attacked him, police said.
One of the suspects, a female, took the man’s iPod and when he tried to grab it back from her, he was “blocked” by other suspects and then punched in the mouth, police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said. Cash was also taken from the victim, who was bruised but was not taken to a hospital.
The suspects are four males and a female, all between the ages of 15 and 25, Kubiak said.
The victim told police he saw the suspects “harassing other people” on the train, according to the officer, who said the suspects fled and were not in custody as of 11 a.m.
It was not immediately known if this incident was connected to any other similar robberies in the same area, including the similar incident on the Brown Line Wednesday near the Chicago Avenue/Franklin Street stop. One victim was hospitalized in that attack, in which a wallet and an iPhone were taken.