CHICAGO — Restaurant patrons in Lincoln Park and the Near North Side have been targeted by a cellphone thief nine times since the end of January, police said.
The man walks up to people eating inside restaurants, then distracts them by giving them paperwork to solicit donations, according to a Chicago Police Community Alert. While the victims were distracted by the thief, he stole their phones off the restaurant tables and ran off.
The thefts occurred:
- Jan. 21 in the 400 block of East Illinois Street
- Jan. 21 in the 1000 block of West North Avenue
- Jan. 21 in the 1100 block of West North Avenue
- Jan. 21 in the 200 block of East Ontario Street
- Jan. 21 in the 600 block of North Dearborn Street
- Saturday in the 300 block of West Hubbard Street
- Saturday in the 1400 block of North Wells Street
- Saturday in the first block of East Delaware Place
- Sunday in the 600 block of North Wells Street
No detailed description of the thief was available.
Anyone with information about the thefts was asked to call police at 312-747-8380.