Increase In Robberies In Chicago Police District 17 Worries Business Owners

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago police are investigating two recent robberies near N. Kimball Ave. and Bryn Mawr Ave., but nearby business owners say their concerns stretch beyond those two crimes.

The area is in CPD District 17, where police logged 80 robberies or burglaries of businesses in 2018. For AHS Wireless manager Muhammad Ishaq, the problems started earlier than that.

He says back in 2016 two middle aged men robbed him and pointed a gun at him.

"I was afraid to come in my store and be in the store in long hours," Ishaq said. "It was really fearful."

The manager of a 7-Eleven across the street said last week someone with a gun robbed that store.

Chicago police say they are also investigating a Feb. 20 armed robbery of another nearby store.

City records obtained by CBS 2 show that in District 17 robberies and burglaries of businesses have increased nearly every year since 2014, when police logged 59 such crimes.

Around the corner from Ishaq, the staff at Day & Night Food & Cigarettes said last December someone broke into the store while it was closed and stole lottery tickets and money.

Police say they are still looking for leads in that case and in the AHS Wireless burglary.

"They should take care of this area," Ishaq said. "If they don't do it obviously we have to close our businesses. We cannot do anything ."

Ishaq says he'd like to see more of a police presence in the area.

A CPD spokesperson said when crime patterns are detected, the department issues community and business alerts for the area. A recent alert is how CBS 2 discovered two of the recent robberies that CPD is investigating.