Four boys, one only 10-years-old, are charged with trying to steal a delivery driver’s car in Wrigleyville on Wednesday evening. The arrests follow weeks of reported auto thefts in the area involving very young thieves and cars left running by food delivery drivers.
A man flagged down police around 5:30 p.m yesterday to report that a group of boys tried to steal his delivery vehicle while it sat outside Shake Shack, 3519 North Clark. Officers searched the area and detained four boys nearby. The delivery driver identified them as the people who tried to take his car.
Prosecutors charged a 13-year-old boy with misdemeanor criminal trespass to a vehicle. The other three, ages 10, 13, and 15, are charged with violating misdemeanor anti-theft laws, according to a CPD spokesperson. All four were released to their parents or guardians.
Earlier Wednesday, police arrested another group of juvenile boys after they stole a car that was left idling outside a restaurant in the 200 block of East Ohio around 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Officers spotted the car about three hours later in the Englewood neighborhood. The driver sped away from patrol officers, but the CPD helicopter continued to follow the car from above, according to police.
The driver stopped the car on the 6800 block of South Honore around 12:40 a.m. Wednesday and four boys ran from it. Police caught and arrested them.
A 17-year-old is charged with possessing a stolen motor vehicle. The others, two 15-year-olds and a 13-year-old, are charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass to a vehicle.