Employees of a pet store in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on Monday evening said they were still in shock over a violent robbery they went through last week.
Emily Frank, an employee at SP2, in the 2300 block of West Leland Avenue, said a man last Thursday brought pet supplies up to the counter and the announced to her co-worker that he was being robbed.
"He was told to go to the back room. Then the guy roughed him up," she said. "It was awful. Terrible. There was only $80 in the drawer."
On Sunday, a man entered Second Journey Resale, in the 1900 block of West Montrose Avenue, and asked for help with a purchase, police said in a community alert.
The man then grabbed the employee and announced a robbery, the alert said. The employee gave the attacker money and attempted to leave the store, but the man punched the employee in the face before fleeing.
In each robbery, only one employee was inside the store at the time, the alert said.
The robber was described as a 35- to 45-year-old black man with a medium complexion who stands between 5 feet, 11 inches to 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighs between 240 and 250 pounds, authorities said. He was wearing a beige, puffy jacket; dark jogging pants and dark gym shoes, the alert said.
Anyone with information should contact detectives at 312-744-8263.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported the name of the business hit in the second robbery.
