'Shut The F*** Up': A Wicker Park Woman Robbed At Gunpoint Tells Her Harrowing Tale
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A total of 19 people were recently robbed at gunpoint within a month in the Wicker Park and Bucktown area, and one of the victims spoke up Wednesday - as Chicago police said no one is being held responsible.
CBS 2's Steven Graves had her story and a push from the community for change.
"It's traumatizing. It's scary," the woman said. "They have all of my personal information."
She wants to stay anonymous for this interview after robbers stole her ID and vaccine information. They pointed two guns to her head as she walked to her apartment. It was 8:30 last Wednesday night.
"I let out a scream and they told me to 'shut the f*** up,'" she said.
She was only told to talk when the robbers asked for her debit card PIN.
"I just started repeating the same number over and over again," she said.
They drove off in the car they came in near Damen Avenue and Schiller Street. The woman is one of 19 victims in the past month. Similarly targeted in the Wicker Park and Bucktown area.
"When you see these alerts, that number is alarming definitely. But it's just one sentence in a list of incidents," she said.
Incidents that have community groups in the West Town area concerned. Carjackings and shootings have put the Near West (12th) and Shakespeare (14th) police districts in the red. Their overall crime has spiked this year compared to last.
So fed up, community groups plan to hold a big meeting next week. Not only to address recent crimes like these armed robberies, but to also talk about the city and how it splits up different wards. The point there is to try to think of ways to unify leadership and find solutions to ongoing violence.
Because the violence is a crippling cycle. One that has affected a woman who was robbed at gunpoint near her home five years ago. Now, she's scared to leave home at night.
"It's a horrible, horrible feeling and I don't want to feel that way. We're a community and we have to look out for each other," the woman said.
