Chicago crime: Burglars target elderly residents on Southwest Side, police say

CHICAGO - Elderly residents on the city’s Southwest Side have been targeted in recent weeks by burglars who trick them into exiting their homes in order to break into their homes and steal from them.

What we know:

In each incident, the offenders either created a situation to get the victims to leave their homes, like by telling them that their garage door had been hit; or tried to distract them by engaging in conversation; or waited for the victim to get out of their home when they took out the trash.

While the victim is distracted, other members of the group would enter their home and take items like guns, money, or other valuables, according to Chicago police.

Police provided a description of four offenders:

• A Hispanic female standing around 5 feet tall, weighing about 120 pounds with brown eyes and black, short hair
• A white female standing 5-foot-3 with hazel eyes and a light complexion
• A Hispanic male wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans
• An unknown male wearing an American flag ski mask, a white t-shirt, black pants and black boots

Police also described the times and addresses of five known incidents:

• 3600 block of S. Maplewood Ave. on Aug. 5 at 4:38 p.m. in Brighton Park
• 4200 block of S. California Ave. on Aug. 8 at 3:10 p.m. in Brighton Park
• 2800 block of S. Pitney Ct. on Aug. 9 at 5:00 p.m. in Bridgeport
• 3300 block of S. Seeley Ave. on Aug. 12 at 1:43 p.m. in McKinley Park
• 2600 block of S. Shields Ave. on Aug. 14 at 10:00 p.m. in Armour Square

What you can do:

Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to contact Area One Detectives at 312-747-8380 or submit an anonymous tip at CPDTIP.com and use reference number #P25-1-092.