After attacks on ride-hailing drivers, CPD issues warning in Humboldt Park

Chicago Uber and Lyft drivers protest unfair working conditions

Uber and Lyft drivers gathered Thursday on Chicago's North Side to protest unfair working conditions.

CHICAGO - Chicago police issued a community alert Sunday about armed robberies in Humboldt Park over the last two weeks.

Police said suspects used Uber to request a ride and robbed the ride-hailing drivers at gunpoint when they arrive, and in two of the three robberies, battered the victims with the butt of a handgun and demanded access to their cellphones.

The robberies occurred in the 500 block of North Monticello Avenue on Jan. 3 at 12:30 p.m. and Jan. 10 at 8:15 p.m., as well as in the 3600 block of West Franklin Boulevard on Jan. 14 at 7:05 p.m.

The suspects were described as two to four Black males between the ages of 16 and 18, wearing dark clothing and black ski masks, according to police.

In December, members of the Chicago Gig Alliance gathered outside Uber’s support center for drivers in West Town to call on the City Council to pass an ordinance aimed at improving their working conditions, pay and safety. They were joined by relatives of Mohammed al Hejoj, a limousine and rideshare driver who was killed on the job.

The day after Christmas, a woman who came to the U.S. from Venezuela and was driving for Lyft, was shot and killed in Austin. Four people were seen leaving her SUV, and police said the incident appeared to have been a robbery.

In November, two brothers delivering food for Uber eats were shot, one fatally, in Humboldt Park.

Anyone with information regarding the robberies can call CPD at (312) 746-8253.