A masked gunman has hit the same drive-through ATM in Woodlawn multiple times over an eight-day span, approaching victims, flashing a handgun, demanding their cash and then running off on foot, according to Chicago police. The repeated hits on the same stretch of South Stony Island Avenue prompted police to issue a community alert urging anyone with information to come forward.
According to WGN-TV, police said the armed robberies occurred on the same block in Woodlawn over roughly eight days, with the offender approaching victims at a drive-through ATM, showing a gun and demanding their money before fleeing on foot. The station reported that incidents were logged in the 6600 block of South Stony Island Avenue on Oct. 17, Oct. 22, Oct. 23 and Oct. 25.
Fox 32 Chicago, however, reported that three people were robbed at gunpoint at the drive-through ATM, with the string of robberies occurring at the same Stony Island Avenue location between Oct. 17 and Oct. 23. That outlet put the times of the three robberies at 6:55 p.m. on Oct. 17, 6:20 a.m. on Oct. 22 and 12:25 a.m. on Oct. 23 — a timeline that does not fully match WGN-TV's count of four dates, including Oct. 25. In each case described by Fox 32, the offender took money from the victim and fled the scene on foot.
Conflicting Suspect Descriptions Add Confusion
The two outlets also diverge on what the suspect looks like. WGN-TV reported that police described the offender as a Black man between 30 and 38 years old, standing about 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-11, last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a black ski mask. Fox 32's report described the suspect as an African-American man wearing a tan sweatshirt and a ski mask, a detail at odds with the sweatshirt color cited elsewhere.
Police have not said whether the discrepancies reflect different witness accounts of the same man or separate offenders working the same stretch of Stony Island Avenue. Anyone with information was asked to contact Area One detectives at 312-747-8380, per Fox 32, or submit an anonymous tip through CPDTIP.com using reference number P26-1-077. Police also urged anyone who encounters a possible suspect or witness to call 911 immediately and remain at the scene if it is safe to do so.
Part of a Broader Pattern of South and North Side Robberies
The Woodlawn cluster is not an isolated flashpoint this year. CBS News Chicago reported that police were investigating a string of armed robberies over the span of a week in the Washington Park and West Woodlawn neighborhoods, where two to four robbers would exit a white sedan, approach victims and demand their personal items at gunpoint. In September, NBC Chicago reported that police were investigating three separate armed robberies targeting women who were alone in Lincoln Park.
Other South Side neighborhoods have faced similar alerts in recent months. Chicago's 22nd District warned residents and businesses in Roseland of two armed street robberies within a week, according to Patch. In Englewood, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that a masked gunman allegedly robbed three separate lawn-care workers at gunpoint within a 20-minute span. And the 6600 block of South Blackstone Avenue, also in Woodlawn, saw at least four robberies tied to a suspect who police said used a dating app to lure victims, according to ABC7 Chicago.
Echoes of Past ATM Robbery Sprees
CWB Chicago has reported that the latest cluster of incidents has raised concerns that a spree-style robbery pattern is attempting a comeback, echoing sprees reported between 2022 and 2024 that typically involved armed, masked robbers using stolen vehicles and sometimes forcing victims to make withdrawals at ATMs. A separate South Side series documented by Chicago Crime Chaser found that an armed crew struck nine South Side businesses across seven neighborhoods over a two-week stretch this summer, ripping ATMs from commercial locations, with all nine of those incidents occurring in the early morning hours between roughly 2:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. NBC Chicago has also reported past police warnings about armed robberies at drive-through ATMs in the nearby Grand Crossing neighborhood.
Police have not said whether the same person is responsible for all of the reported incidents. For now, investigators are relying on the public for leads, repeating their request that anyone with information call Area One detectives or submit a tip referencing the case number tied to the Woodlawn alert.
