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CHICAGO — Police are investigating five robberies, some of which turned violent, that were reported early Tuesday morning in the Loop, Lincoln Park, and Lakeview. There are indications that the same people may have committed some of the crimes. In one incident, a 22-year-old woman was pepper sprayed and robbed near the Lincoln Park Zoo around 12:15 a.m. She was near the intersection of Fullerton and Cannon Drive when a man sprayed her and took her phone, according to initial information. EMS took her to St. Joseph Hospital for treatment. The other four robberies, all similar in nature, occurred within...

CHICAGO—It’s the hottest scam going, one that everyone would be well-advised to keep in mind as they wander the streets of Chicago: fake charity solicitors and “homeless” people commandeer phones and transfer large sums of money to themselves using the victims’ electronic banking apps. We’ve told you about the scam and some people who’ve allegedly been caught running it, usually in tourist areas like the Mag Mile and Millennium Park or nightlife districts like Wrigleyville and the Gold Coast. Just yesterday morning, two men asked a couple for a donation near Crown Fountain at Millennium Park. The victims reluctantly agreed...

CHICAGO — Two pizzeria employees were tied up during an after-hours armed robbery in the Loop overnight. An employee at Lou Malnati’s, 805 South State, called 911 after freeing themselves around 1:45 a.m. Without identifying the business by name, Chicago police said a man and woman confronted a male employee as he exited a back door near a garbage area. The male robber grabbed the employee, put a knife to his throat, and forced him back into the restaurant, police said.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (KABC) -- A 69-year-old woman was killed after a robbery attempt Tuesday afternoon at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, police said. Officers responded to the area near the Barnes & Noble bookstore around 3:30 p.m. According to the Newport Beach Police Department, the woman and her husband were walking when two suspects suddenly approached them. They tried to rob the couple and a struggle ensued, police said. The suspects then tried taking off in a white Toyota Camry.

Hawaii police arrested a man who allegedly robbed a wife and husband visiting from California and then proceeded to pursue them into a national park. The Santa Cruz couple, Alex and Justina Lucero, said they were robbed at gunpoint and forced to hide on Haleakala volcano on Maui for 24 hours between June 4 and June 5. Maui police said they arrested Christopher Helmer on June 8 and he’s being held on $50,000 bail. The Luceros, who perform in the Alex Lucero Band out of Santa Cruz, were on Maui to play two corporate events, according to a joint Instagram...

A four-man burglary crew was caught on surveillance cameras hugging and high-fiving after successfully breaking into a safe at a West Hollywood jewelry store and making off with precious, one-of-a-kind pieces made by the shop’s owners. The incident occurred at Huener Jewelry in the 7900 block of Santa Monica Boulevard on June 16 – Father’s Day. “To be honest with you, it’s very hard,” Robert Goukasian, an owner of the shop, told KTLA’s Mary Beth McDade. “I’ve been going through hours of surveillance videos and it’s hard to watch.

A gas station robbery set off a car chase down Los Angeles city streets that led to a crash and the death of one of the robbery suspects, police said. The incident unfolded Saturday evening on West Adams Boulevard, where police said a 21-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint while parked at a gas station. The man pursued the robbers as they drove away, and allegedly collided his black SUV into the back of their white sedan, police said.

CHICAGO — An employee of a popular Boystown nightclub was stabbed during a robbery on the Halsted Street bar strip overnight, just hours before the neighborhood’s annual Pride Fest street party is scheduled to begin. The 23-year-old woman left work near Roscoe and Halsted around midnight and was about two blocks away when the robber confronted her near Halsted and Aldine, according to preliminary information.

Johnny Wactor, a long time veteran of TV soap General Hospital, was shot and killed Saturday in a Los Angeles when he confronted thieves breaking into his car, according to TMZ. He was 37. Wactor's mother Scarlett told TMZ that her son saw three men trying to steal the catalytic converter off of his car. She said that her son didn't attempt to fight them or even stop them from robbing Wactor but they still shot him and got away. Police said that paramedics got to the scene at around 3am local time and took him to a local hospital,...

A teen robbery crew ambushed more than a dozen victims — most around their own age — during a months-long violent mugging spree in and around the Bronx’s Claremont Park, police said this week. Three boys, 13, 14 and 17, plus an 18-year-old, Sincere Johnson, have been arrested in connection to the string of callous crimes that began back in January, the NYPD said — adding cops are still hunting for at least two more suspects. Most of the victims — some of whom were punched or threatened with knives during the muggings — were teenagers, as young as 14,...

On Monday, a 63-year-old female mail carrier was robbed at gunpoint by two thugs while delivering mail in Dublin, California. Surveillance video of the incident shows the carrier, who has worked for the U.S. Postal Service for 33 years, delivering mail in a quiet residential neighborhood around 4:30 p.m. when suddenly a masked man emerges behind her. A second masked individual follows closely behind. Suddenly, a masked man comes up behind the mail carrier, followed by a second person who is also masked and the two masked men pull a gun. KTVC reports: “Somebody came up behind me and ‘boom,’...

Kyle Tate is charged with grand theft and criminal mischief... A Palm Bay, Florida Homeowners Association board member was arrested last month after allegedly pulling a gun on three kids fishing at a lake in his subdivision, taking their equipment and throwing the rods, reels and tackle into the woods.. Police charged 57-year-old Kyle Patrick Tate with criminal mischief and grand theft as a result of the incident. A court affidavit filed in Brevard County, Florida alleges that on April 14, officers with the Palm Bay Police Department were dispatched to a suspicious incident at Stillwater Lakes, a subdivision owned...

The Seattle Police Department released video of a purse theft and assault and the arrest of a 13-year-old male suspect on Wednesday. The incident happened April 6 in the Westwood Village shopping center in West Seattle. The video shows someone grabbing a woman’s purse inside the Rite Aid pharmacy entrance and running outside. The woman ran after the suspect and confronted him. You can see him dropping her purse, spilling its contents onto the ground. The woman says at that point, the suspect grabbed her shirt and threw her to the ground. She says as she got back up and...

A suspected illegal immigrant from Venezuela tried his luck at robbing a bank in Ohio this week, although the heist went awry after he was unable to communicate what he wanted. Fox 8 reports that police arrested 20-year-old Yeixon Brito-Gonzalez and suspect that he is in the country illegally. Customs and Border Patrol have put a hold on him. “We have no way to tell if he is here legally or not,” said Sandusky Police Chief Jared Oliver. “But he has no proof of identification.” The failed heist took place on April 6th at around 11:30 a.m., when bank clerks...

Several neighborhoods in San Francisco and Oakland had the most postal worker robberies in California in 2023, according to data from the U.S. Postal Service. According to the data analyzed by ABC7, about 61% of the 145 reported postal robberies across the state last year happened in the Bay Area. Robberies of postal carriers and drivers have increased across the country in recent years. Thieves, often armed with guns or other weapons, have stolen mail carriers’ master keys to gain access to large groups of mailboxes. The robberies have become an increasing concern since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic...

A 32-year-old woman was brutally attacked last Wednesday during a robbery at the beauty store she manages in Commerce, Calif., reports ABC News 7, NBC News 4, and Fox News 11. Marlene Sandoval was severely injured after she tried to prevent four women from robbing the M Beauty store. In surveillance footage, Sandoval was seen outside of the store being pushed, beaten, grabbed by the hair and aggressively thrown to the ground. The suspects then left Sandoval, who collapsed on the street as she tried to get up. The suspects fled the scene in a white sedan and remain at...

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - A man who police say was the leader of a dangerous Gwinnett County restaurant armed robbery crew will spend the rest of his life in jail. A Gwinnett County jury found 30-year-old Dametrius Marquel Sims guilty on four counts of armed robbery, two counts of attempted armed robbery, six counts of aggravated assault, and six counts of gun possession charges. Sims, described by authorities as the most dangerous member of the group, is accused of leading a group that was involved in at least six robberies targeting restaurants and delivery drivers in the county between August...

Oakland police see rise in smash-and-grab suspects targeting people sitting in their cars

Concerned parents calling themselves SafeBears have raised $40,000 to pay for security guards or “safety ambassadors” to patrol the UC Berkeley campus area for a few weeks in early March. UC Berkeley may be one of America’s most prestigious schools, but its location in the California Bay Area has parents and students both wary of safety on campus. A group called SafeBears, that touts itself as comprising “1,300+ Cal parents and community allies working to improve safety for UC Berkeley students,” has worked to solve the problem themselves, hoping their prototypical program of patrols around campus will inspire the college...

Five people were busted in the brutal caught-on-video killing of a Brooklyn laundromat owner during a botched robbery – and one of the accused is the victim’s cousin, .. The five hatched a plan to steal a gold necklace worth more than $30,000 from Money Perkins, 37, inside his East Flatbush laundromat — but the thieves shot the business owner in the head when the plan went off the rails, .. Perkins’ cousin Ronnie Butler, 46, was in a long-simmering feud with his cousin when he hatched the robbery plan alongside Louis Mercado, 48, who then recruited his 16-year-old gangbanger...