Man armed with knife robbing stores on North and West sides

A man armed with a knife has robbed three stores this month in the Wicker Park, Lincoln Park and Austin neighborhoods.

The suspect enters a store and acts like he is making a purchase, according to the community alert from Area North detectives. Once he is at the checkout counter, he pulls a knife and demands money.

The robberies happened in the 1600 block of North Damen about 12:50 p.m. on May 6, in the 2100 block of North Halsted about 1:20 p.m. on May 13, and in the 5700 block of West North Avenue about 1:30 p.m. on May 18.

In the Wicker Park robbery on North Damen, a store clerk was cut on her hand as the suspect robbed the register, police said at the time.

The suspect is described as a black man about 35, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-7, and 150-230 pounds.

During the Halsted robbery, he wore a dark blue hooded raincoat, police said. During the North Avenue robbery, he wore a black jacket with red trim, red pants, and black and red Nike gym shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call Area North detectives at (312) 744-8263.