Elgin police looking for suspects in armed robberies

A string of November armed robberies on Elgin's east side - most that occurred the week of Thanksgiving - has left police asking whether some of the crimes are related.

"In previous years, we have noted that between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we do see an increase in street robberies," said Deputy Police Chief Jeff Swoboda. "The mere fact that there are a few street robberies that have occurred in a relatively short period of time and that a handgun was observed in a few of them ... it's too early to say if they are, or are not, linked."

Elgin saw four armed robberies last week.

The latest took place in a grocery store parking lot Saturday at 2:45 p.m. in the 400 block of Summit Street.

Swoboda said a man with a handgun robbed a 50-year-old mother and her daughter of their purses. At some point, he hit both women - reports didn't indicate whether it was with his hand or his gun - and both women were treated for minor injuries and released from Sherman Hospital.

On Thanksgiving Day at 2:49 a.m., two men robbed another man - one of the suspects showed a gun - inside his truck parked near a restaurant in the 900 block of Villa Street at 2:49 a.m., making off with $80, various credit and debit cards and three sets of car keys.

Also on Thanksgiving, a teenager said someone pistol whipped him three or four times in the head at 9 p.m., while he was seated in a minivan parked behind a restaurant in the 400 block of Summit Street - the incident was classified as an armed robbery in reports.

Last Monday at 1:30 a.m., three men wearing black ski masks and clothes entered a car stopped at a light at Liberty Street and Bluff City Boulevard, with two showing guns. One man hit the driver on top of his head with the gun, while another pointed a gun at him and ordered him to drive, reports said. The thieves got away with the man's cell phone and Red Sox cap.

And on Nov. 15, a machete-wielding man stole another man's 16-piece taco dinner at 10:04 p.m. in the 800 block of Villa Street.

No arrests have been made in any of these cases.

Police encourage you to stay aware of your surroundings, to call in any burned out streetlights and to also phone police if you notice any strange activity, vehicles or people in your neighborhood.

"People just need to give us a call anytime they see anything suspicious," Swoboda said.