Crime Spikes, Along With Fear, In North Side Neighborhoods

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Residents on the North Side are saying it's out of control.

Crime numbers are up, and this weekend was just the latest example, CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports.

As North Center resident Karrin Algas walked home Sunday night, she was robbed at gunpoint by four men. Suddenly, she was confronted by a horrifying prospect that her life was over.

"Oh, I thought I was dead," she said. "I thought my son was going to come home and find me in a pool of blood."

That robbery capped off not only a violent weekend in Chicago, but another spike in most crimes in Chicago's 19th Police District on the North Side.

It included half a dozen armed robberies and five home burglaries.

Year to year, department statistics show, robberies are up 53 percent, burglaries up 64 percent and aggravated batteries up 42 percent.

Raminder Chadah's Lincoln Square business was hit, by somebody who drilled into the store's ATM.

Some cite police downsizing in the district, and low morale, for the increase in crime

Others say it is not that simple.

First Deputy Supt. John Escalante says additional officers have been deployed and will continue to patrol major thoroughfares.

The community policing officer for the district told residents the recent arrests show efforts are working.

Both aldermen Ameya Pawar and Tom Tunney, whose wards are in the police district, say they are concerned and are working closing with police.