A cab rider, with two accomplices, attacked his taxi driver March 14. When the driver arrived at the three passenger’s destination of 240 S. State St., he requested the cab fare. The offender, sitting in the front seat, proceeded to spray mace onto the victim’s face.

All three riders then fled down the steps leading to the Red Line. The police later toured the area but could not locate the offenders. The Chicago Fire Department treated the driver at the scene and then transferred him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Police charged the owner of the Columbus Grill, 651 W. Washington Blvd., with a liquor license violation after a restaurant brawl spilled out into the street early Sunday morning. Police witnessed more than 50 patrons coming into the street and parking lot north of the restaurant. In order to control the crowd, 18 police units had to come onto the scene, including units outside the 1st police district.

Restaurant owner Dan Apostolopoulos, 48, of Barrington, has been given citations several times prior for liquor license violations, police said.

Suspect Jorge Martinez remains at large after allegedly stealing $5,000 from a victim who gave Martinez the money to bail out a friend. The victim said that on March 14 she withdrew more than $4,000 from her Bank of America checking account while accompanied by Martinez, who the victim described as an acquaintance.

Martinez and the victim then went to the U.S. Immigration Office at 101 W. Jackson Blvd. to post $5,000 bail for the victim’s friend. Martinez then told the victim to stay downstairs, while he went upstairs to pay the bail. Later that day, the victim received a phone call that her friend was still being held in the immigration office as the bail was never posted.

The victim then made numerous attempts to contact Martinez with no success. Martinez resides in Libertyville and is either 32 or 33 years old. The victim said that Martinez often hangs around the Waukegan courthouse where he offers help as an interpreter to Spanish speakers.

A hold-up and assault took place at the 7-Eleven on 33 E. Adams St. just after midnight on March 16.

The store clerk told police that an offender picked up a bag of potato chips and walked to checkout where he then displayed a blue steel handgun. He pointed it at the clerk and told the three customers in the store to lay flat on the floor.

The offender told the clerk to give him money and jumped on the counter. He next used the gun to hit the clerk on the right side of the face and took money from the cash register. He then hit the clerk in the back of the head and took money from the store’s second cash register. An offender and an accomplice then fled the store with $300 and $30 worth of Newport cigarettes.

Despite multiple witnesses, little was gleaned about both offender’s appearance besides that they were each black males in their early to-mid 20s. The man with the gun was about 6’ tall, and his accomplice about 5’8” tall.

A chase over a stolen wallet turned into a heroin possession case March 19 involving three Chicago residents.

A victim told police that she was sitting in Exchequer Restaurant at 19 E Adams St. when she noticed a woman — allegedly Antonika Wesley, 37 — next to her purse, which was sitting on a chair. A moment later, she noticed her wallet and cell phone gone from the purse and then, with a witness, ran after Wesley and two accomplices — Stanley Warren, 47, and Michael Williams, 46.

Police saw the chase and stopped Wesley, Warren and Williams. They then recovered from Wesley what the victim described as her wallet and cell phone. Then, while doing a pat down of Williams, police found three black-tinted zip lock bags with a white powder substance suspected to be heroin. Wesley, Warren and Williams were then arrested.