A South Shore man already facing multiple charges related to car thefts has been charged in a series of downtown and South Side robberies that started when a running Jeep was stolen late last month in the South Loop, police said Wednesday.
Walter Diggs, 19, robbed at least three people between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2, including the 46-year-old man whose black 2018 Jeep Cherokee was stolen about 11:05 p.m. from the 1400 block of South Michigan Avenue, according to a news release. Diggs is charged with robbery.
Police issued an alert two weeks ago about the men who had been jumping “into unoccupied vehicles that are left running by owners, and stolen the vehicles,” then used the stolen vehicles as getaway cars when they committed armed robberies. Diggs committed two of the other robberies mentioned in the alert, according to the release.
In the most recent robbery, about 8:15 a.m. Jan. 2, Diggs allegedly approached from behind a 31-year-old woman in the first block of East North Water Street, near State Street, pushed her to the ground and took her property.
Earlier that day, about 5:50 a.m., Diggs went up to a 32-year-old woman in the first block of East 26th Street, just east of State, grabbed her property and fled, police said.
Court and police records show Diggs was arrested at his home Jan. 10 in connection with another crime, a burglary and criminal trespass to vehicle case originally classified as a theft from about 10:15 a.m. that same day. The theft took place in the 600 block of West Pershing Road at a car wash, according to police records.
At the time of his arrest, Diggs was out on bond in another, unrelated motor-vehicle theft case, in which he was charged with receiving or possessing a stolen vehicle, according to court and police records. That case originated after a vehicle was stolen about 12:30 p.m. Dec. 19, 2016, from the 600 block of East 38th Place, according to police records.
After his arrest in the car wash case, a victim or witness in one of the more recent string of robberies identified Diggs after looking at a series of photographs that included one of him. Diggs, of the 6700 block of South Oglesby Avenue, was charged in the robbery pattern on Wednesday, police said.
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Diggs was scheduled to appear in Cook County bond court on Thursday.