A 16-year-old boy who carjacked a Lakeview woman at gunpoint this week has been involved in a series of similar crimes on the North Side since July — and he along with other robbery crew members continued to carjack people on the North Side even after one of their accomplices was arrested last month, according to Chicago police reports.
The teen was today charged as a juvenile with three felony counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm, felony possession of a stolen vehicle, and aggravated fleeing.
Police said in a statement that he was arrested shortly after noon on Tuesday in the 7900 block of South Throop. Officers tried to pull him over for a minor traffic violation, but the boy accelerated, crashed, then ran from the scene on foot. He was captured moments later. The car he was driving, a 2013 Volvo SUV, was taken in an armed carjacking in the 1400 block of West Byron around 3:15 p.m. on Monday, police said.
A woman was loading the car when three masked men approached her vehicle and forced her to surrender the SUV at gunpoint, police said.
At the time of yesterday’s arrest, the boy was being sought in connection with two other armed carjackings on the North Side: one in the 4200 block of North Kenmore on July 19th and the other in the 4800 block of North Paulina on Nov. 2nd.
A 17-year-old male was charged in connection with the Paulina carjacking as well as another armed hijacking in the 1100 block of South Jefferson in early November. Despite his arrest, other members of the robbery team have apparently continued to carjack victims at gunpoint across the North Side, including Monday’s victim on Byron.
Chicago police seemed aware that the crew had not let the arrest hinder their crime spree. On Nov. 12th, a week after the 17-year-old was charged with two carjackings, police re-issued a community alert that warned about continuing incidents on the North Side. As CWBChicago reported,
While one member of a North Side carjacking crew has been captured, Chicago police… issued a fresh community alert about vehicular hijackings that are connected to the criminal team. [The] warning may be an indication that detectives believe the gang is still committing crimes.
The teens’ brazen behavior even after one of their colleagues was arrested seems to indicate that they are not concerned about Cook County’s juvenile justice system.
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