From DPD’s Sgt. Jennifer Ross…
On 5-18-14 at approximately 1:30 am, Decatur Police responded to an armed robbery of two pedestrians in the area of West College Avenue and Greenwood Place.
The victims reported they were walking on West College Avenue when an unknown male walked off of Greenwood Place towards them. As the male passed, he abruptly turned around and stated “What do you got?” while pointing a handgun. One of the victims handed over his wallet and the suspect proceeded to pat the victim down and demand a cell phone he felt in the victim’s pocket. The suspect then asked what was in the second victim’s purse and she handed her purse over. The suspect then ran back onto Greenwood Place to a waiting vehicle that fled south on Greenwood Place.
The victims were not injured. A wallet, purse and two cell phones were taken. The suspect was described as a black male, late teens to early 20’s, close cut hair, approximately 6’2, thin-medium build, wearing a black zip-up hoodie and dark pants, armed with a small silver semi-automatic handgun. The suspect vehicle was described as a gold older-model boxy SUV, possibly a Jeep Cherokee.
this happened a half mile from my house.
the victims were likely walking home from The Imperial or another establishment
i know it was terrifying for them, and their sense of violation is in the extreme.
i am very glad no one was injured.
in time, we will likely find the perpetrators and they will be punished.
now, let’s all just take a deep breath and repeat:
“i do not live on the south side of Chicago.”
“i do not live on the south side of Chicago.”
“i do not live on the south side of Chicago.”
man, I hate this
we decided to walk last night instead of a cab…
I’ve long made it a practice not to carry my regular wallet when walking places. I have a cellphone wallet that I keep one credit card in and a little bit of cash (no ID, but I’m rarely asked anymore, and I have a picture of my license saved to my phone). Fortunately, I’ve not been a victim of a robbery like the one above, but if it happens at least the inconvenience of cancelling cards and replacing a driver’s license will be lessened. Also, something people may not know, if you pay your cell phone bill with certain credit cards (Wells Fargo, for one) they include insurance that covers phone theft.
I’ve never heard of credit card companies covering theft, but that’s pretty cool. Where did you find that out, and how can we find out what other companies offer that?
As for the robbery, my brother and his wife were victims of an armed home invasion a couple months ago that lasted 30 minutes. Only by the grace of God were they not hurt or killed. After all was said and done, my brother said the most valuable thing the thieves took was their freedom to feel safe in their own home. I feel for the two who were robbed last night and who probably now feel like they’ll need to either drive or take a cab even if they’re going out to their own local joint.
I don’t recall where I first read about it, but when I did I read through all of my credit cards’ benefit information and found that Wells Fargo was the one that offered it (I believe it’s up to $300 with a $50 deductible). I then switched my automatic monthly Verizon payments to that card. This probably wouldn’t be a good idea for those who carry balances.
Correction: it’s a $25 deductible with a $600 max. benefit.
Wonder if either of the phones have one of those “phone finder” apps on it so police could trace where the vehicle was?
Thieves know to turn phones off immediately, making those apps useless.
I know this from experience.
…not as a thief, but a victim.
Yep. Need the full-on kill switch, which is now available for Iphones at least. As that becomes universal, there will be a reduction in smartphone thefts.
Did this really happen on Greenwood Place and not Greenwood Ave? I just can’t envision the getaway car choosing that route for a get away — Greenwood Place is fairly narrow with cars parked on either side, and empties onto Evans. From there it would have to turn down Evans and then onto either Jefferson or Greenwood Ave in order to make a get away. It’s not that I think they are great masterminds, but sitting in wait on Greenwood Place does not make much sense.