A 16-year-old boy is in custody after he ran over a Divvy bike rider with a stolen car in the West Town neighborhood Wednesday evening. The crash came just two days after another stolen car driven by a juvenile killed a pedestrian in the West Loop. Based on preliminary information, the cases did not immediately appear to be connected, according to a police officer with knowledge of the investigations.
Wednesday’s collision sent the bicyclist flying onto the hood of a passing car near the intersection of Hubbard and Ogden around 6:15 p.m., according to Chicago police. He was taken to Stroger Hospital for treatment.
Police arrested the driver and another juvenile a short time later. They were in a Chevy Tahoe that was taken in a carjacking earlier in the afternoon on the 1200 block of North Cleaver, which is about a half-mile west of Goose Island.
Officers seized two guns during the arrests, according to police. Charges were pending.
On Monday afternoon, a woman was struck and killed by a stolen Ford Escape as she crossed the 600 block of South Canal. That vehicle, which a witness said was occupied by “several young kids,” had been stolen hours earlier from a Lakeview convenience store parking lot after its owner left it running. No arrests have been made.
That case appears to be connected to a series of auto thefts in which juveniles steal idling vehicles, often in Lakeview and River North, according to a source. Those thefts have not involved weapons or direct confrontation with drivers.
But, a source said, Monday’s fatal hit-and-run “appears intentional” based on a review of surveillance video.