Henry J. Mendez of the 4000 block of West Oakdale Avenue, Vanessa Fernandez of the 6900 block of Belmont Avenue and Tiffany M. Sanchez of 3200 block of West Cortland Street found themselves in custody after they led police on a high-speed chase that was sparked by a gunshot on the Near North Side around 4:00 a.m. on Sept. 4.

That night, police responding to a call of a shot fired on the 1500 block of North Kingsbury Street arrived to find a group of people indicating that the perpetrator was in a vehicle seen fleeing northbound onto Sheffield Avenue.

Officers pursued the vehicle, allegedly driven by Mendez, 21, and a chase ensued in which police say he drove through approximately 10 stop signs and red lights at excessive speeds before crashing his car into a city light post at 1000 W. Belmont.

Mendez and three other occupants — Fernandez, Sanchez and an unknown suspect — then left the vehicle and tried to run away. Mendez was apprehended shortly after by police, and the two women were taken into custody at the crash scene. The fourth suspect was able to escape.

An officer in pursuit of the offenders observed a handgun being tossed from the vehicle and recovered it. Officers found one spent casing at the original scene and were approached by witnesses who identified Mendez as the person who fired the gun.

A 36-year-old cab driver was the subject of a stick-up on the 500 block of West Scott Avenue the evening of Sept. 3.

The victim told police that he was held at gunpoint by three young men wearing black scarves around their faces, who demanded that he give them all his money.

When the victim stated that he didn’t have any, the three suspects, all believed to be 17 years old, checked his pockets and took $160 in cash and a phone valued at $500 before fleeing.

A 27-year-old woman was robbed at gunpoint while walking on the 200 block of West Goethe Street on the evening of Sept. 5.

The woman told police that at around 8 p.m., she noticed that a group of five young men were watching her from behind a nearby park fence. The men, who all looked to be in their late teens, then jumped the fence and approached her.

One of the offenders seized her from behind and another brandished a handgun and pushed it against the victim’s cheek while the others emptied her pockets and took her purse.

The offenders then fled back over the fence, making off with the woman’s keys, jewelry, sunglasses and $40 in cash, among other effects.

Police toured the area with negative results, but the woman was able to positively identify one of the men and tentatively identified two others from police records.

A man and a woman were walking on the 1400 block of North Cleveland Avenue at around 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 4 when they observed that were being followed by two men who looked to be in their early twenties.

One of the men took out a steak knife and the offenders demanded that they hand over their personal belongings. The victims refused and told the men that they were contacting the police, at which point the men fled. Police toured the area with negative results.

A 32-year-old man was stabbed after trying to break up a fight in River North around 1 a.m. on Aug. 31.

While walking on the 300 block of North State Street that night, the man saw two women in a physical fight. The man approached the two and attempted to break up the fight, but then walked away, at which point someone told the man that he had been stabbed.

Upon seeing that he had in fact suffered from a small cut on his right shoulder, the man walked to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was treated with six stitches.

Burglars slipped in and out of a sub shop at 2146 N. Halsted St. during the evening of Aug. 30.

The following morning, an employee of Second City Subs told police that someone had taken a security system and $526 in cash from the register.

The offenders apparently entered the shop by breaking in through a rear basement window and knocking a hole in the wall at the top of the stairs.

A dispatcher from the shop’s security provider said that no alarms had been tripped in the building over the course of the evening. Responding officers were unable to make contact with neighbors who live above the shop.

Police arrested Elzie Johnson, of the 1200 block of West 72nd Place, for illegally entering the garage of a condo building just north of the Loop on the evening of Aug. 31.

A security guard at the building, on the first block of East Ontario Street, told police that he observed the offender walking around the garage and looking into cars.

Johnson, 55, reportedly fled after being approached by the guard, and was later detained by police.

Once in custody, Johnson was found to be carrying a GPS system and a few screwdrivers. The offender was unable to explain why he was in possession of these items, and when asked if he had been in the garage Johnson affirmed that he was “just passing through.” Johnson was also charged on one count of carrying burglary tools and one for theft of property.