Kids stole another car in Lakeview on Monday morning, but the case took a tragic turn when the stolen car, driven by “young kids,” struck and killed a woman in the West Loop, according to a police source.
Around 9:30 a.m., a woman left her car running as she ran into 7-Eleven, 1153 West Belmont “for no more than 30 seconds,” she later posted on a neighborhood watch page.
“Two preteen boys stole my car and left another stolen car” behind, she said. “Please, please, please, be careful with your belongings and your car. I’ve read about this…several times and never thought it would happen to me.” The woman’s post was made before the pedestrian struck.
Taken was a purple Ford Escape. Police license plate readers recorded the stolen car passing Chicago Avenue on Lake Shore Drive minutes after it was taken.
Then, around 1 p.m., a purple Ford Escape occupied by “several young kids” struck and killed a woman as she crossed the intersection of Harrison and Canal streets, according to a witness. The woman, whose age and identity are not yet known, was pronounced dead at 1:41 p.m. at Stroger Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The police department’s Major Accidents Unit is investigating.
Dozens of similar thefts by “very young” offenders have been reported in Lakeview East and River North since mid-April.
Police have arrested small groups of thieves at least twice this month. One was only 10-years-old. None was of legal driving age.
The first group was released without being charged. A group arrested last week after an attempted auto theft in Wrigleyville was charged and released to their families.
A CPD source said one of the boys who was charged in the Wrigleyville case had been arrested and released to his family three times in less than two days.
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