Teenage Girls Charged with Robberies at U of C

Four teenage girls have been charged with robbing two University of Chicago students at gunpoint.

Police said two of the girls approached a 28-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man as they were walking in the 5600 block of South Blackstone Avenue, shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

A 14-year-old girl allegedly displayed a handgun, while a 15-year-old girl demanded the victims’ backpacks. The man handed over his backpack, but the woman did not, and the 14-year-old allegedly pistol-whipped her. As she was hitting the woman, the gun went off, but no one was struck by the bullet, police said.

The robbers fled the scene, but were captured a short time later. {snip}

Another suspect was found after police on patrol spotted a car going the wrong way at 48th street and Dorchester Avenue. The car crashed when the officers tried to stop it. A 16-year-old girl inside ran away, but was caught, and later admitted to being the getaway driver.

The fourth suspect, a 17-year-old girl, was arrested in south suburban Calumet Park, around 2:45 a.m. It was not immediately clear what her role was in the robbery.

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