A 26-year-old man from Florida had his wallet stolen while riding a CTA train near the Fullerton El stop during the early morning of March 13. The man, in town on business, reported that the suspect, an unknown male wearing a red Chicago Bulls hooded shirt, used a knife to cut the victim’s pants pocket and take his wallet, which contained $25 in cash and two bank cards, before fleeing. The offender made $300 in purchases with one of the cards before the victim was able put the account on hold.

An employee of a church on the 1000 block of N. Orleans told police that the building had been burglarized sometime between the evening of March 13 and the following morning. The offender apparently entered the place of worship without force, as the front doors of the building had been left unlocked, according to the employee. Among the items stolen from the church were a $4,000 LCD projector and a desktop computer. Neither the church’s alarm system nor its security cameras were operating during the incident.

Police suspect 21-year-old Michael D. Murphy of a violent robbery that occurred at 10 p.m. on March 10. The victim, also 21, told police that Murphy, an acquaintance, approached him on the 1300 block of N. Hudson and proceeded to punch him in the face and take a bag he was carrying that contained a wallet, eyeglasses and a cell phone. Police escorted the victim to his mother’s home nearby.

Burglars hit three homes in the same apartment building on the afternoon of March 9. At around 3:30 p.m., police arrived at the complex, on the 2000 block of N. Racine, where residents in the units reported that someone had forced open their back doors and gained entry to the apartments while they were away. One victim told police that, upon returning home, she witnessed a man in a dark blue puffy jacket exit her front landing and drive away in a green Pontiac Grand Prix. A neighbor told officers that she had heard a doorbell ring and loud noises coming from the building earlier that day. The offenders made off with over $5,000 in property from one of the apartments and nearly $3,000 worth of computer equipment from another.

A man was putting money into a CTA card machine at the Chicago Red Line stop when an unknown suspect began choking him from behind while another offender punched him. The attackers beat the man, 24, with a baseball bat before taking his cell phone and $50 in cash. The victim told police that he was able to fight off the offenders, after which he immediately went to a store and bought a new phone then walked to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries. The incident occurred around 7 p.m.