Mugging at 57th and Kimbark

From a reader:

Again, great job keeping tabs on what's going on. I'm sure you've received the Safety Awareness message about people being mugged while "distracted" by either talking on their cell phones or listening to their iPods.

Well, here's another incident to add to the crime sheet: A male University of Chicago third-year student, 20 yrs. old, was mugged while on his cell phone this past Tuesday afternoon, at the corner of 57th St. and Kimbark Ave. According to his firsthand account (he's a friend of mine, but I'm sure it's all in the police report anyways), three black teenagers approached him and asked for directions to some street address. As he stopped to tell them, one of the teens punched him in his jaw and another stole his cell phone out of his hand and ran off. As there were several passers-by, a witness called police and got a description of the suspects. After only 20 minutes, the UCPD picked up the teens outside of Harper Library on 59th Street, recovering 2 cell phones, one of which was my friend's.

I am not sure what charges were filed or any other muggings these kids may be attributed to.

Perhaps the Safety Awareness listhost should tell people: "Warning: Do not help anyone when walking down the street."

That should keep us safe.

Thank you for your contribution. Please email tips to hydeparkcrime@gmail.com.
I must admit that I consider the university's tips to be mostly useless and downright annoying. Their good tip is to "be aware of your surroundings." They also advice "never walk alone after dark" -- a good idea, but doesn't always work. Their worst tips are about Nigerian phone scams.