Chicago (WLS) — Businesses in Pilsen and street vendors in Tamale were targeted by armed robbers on Sunday morning
Miguel Salgado, owner of Angel’s Tire Shop on 18th Street, said the incident happened Sunday morning after a customer who was supposed to be in need of first aid pulled over.
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A few seconds after the driver got out to greet the employees, the blue sedan pulled up and disappeared from the surveillance cameras. Before the guns can be seen, the hands of customers and employees are fired into the air in apparent immediate surrender.
“They got out of the car and told me not to move. Hands up, where’s the money,” Salgado said.
Two masked men with guns were pointed out of a customer’s pocket, and two tire shop employees were just out of camera frame.
“It’s not every day that you wake up and a gun is pointed at you,” Salgado said.
One of the men kept wielding a handgun and the other was armed with what appeared to be a long gun. They took hundreds of dollars in cash and the customer’s key before speeding off in a jeep.
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Around the same time, Salgado said at least two masked men lifted a tamale vendor a few blocks away near 21st Street and Damen.
Chicago police confirmed that several victims and a street vendor had been robbed.
“This is really tragic. Street vendors worked eight to 10 hours a day in the freezing cold, made very little profit and are now being robbed.”
Community leaders on the Southwest Side say vendors who work to live frugally on cash are being targeted and threatened.
“The worst part of all is that I’m completely transparent. When street vendors complained to the city about public safety issues, they didn’t deploy more security, they hired more inspectors.” Deployed…and it’s a tragedy,” Sigcho Lopez said.
Police said no one was taken into custody in these armed robberies.
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