Men with machine pistols rob Brighton Park, Lake View, Near West Side stores: police

A pair of armed men have robbed three stores since last month on Chicago’s North, Southwest and Near West sides.

In each case, two men entered a store near closing time, forced employees into a back room at gunpoint and emptied the contents of a safe into plastic bags, according to a community alert from Chicago police.

The first robbery happened about 7:50 p.m. Sept. 9 in the 1600 block of West 13th Street, police said. Another happened at 7:58 p.m. Sept. 25 in the 3900 block of South Archer Avenue in Brighton Park. The third occurred at 7:53 p.m. Oct. 16 in the 2800 block of North Broadway in Lake View.

The suspects were described as two men between 20 and 30 years old, police said. One stood 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10, weighed 150 to 160 pounds and wore a long dreadlock wig, a baseball cap, a black hoodie and glasses with no lenses. He was armed with a machine pistol with an extended magazine.

The other suspect stood 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8 and wore a gray skullcap with red stripes, a long dreadlock wig and a black coat, police said. He was armed with a MAC11 machine pistol.

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call Area North detectives at 312-744-8263 or Area Central detectives at 312-747-8380.

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