An Uber driver was carjacked at gunpoint while waiting for his passenger in Old Town on Wednesday evening, police said. It’s the latest in a month-long auto hijacking surge that has swept across the North Side.
The victim, 32, was sitting in his parked Nissan Sentra on the 1500 block of North Wells when the carjacker walked up and ordered him out of the car around 10:13 p.m., said Officer Ronald Westbrooks, a CPD spokesperson.
When the carjacker displayed a handgun, the man got out of his car, and the offender drove away with the vehicle. The victim was not injured.
Westbrooks said the carjacker is a Black male in his 20’s who stands about 5’8” tall and weighs 150 pounds. The man was wearing a blue hoodie and a black facemask.
CWBChicago has reported on dozens of carjackings on the North Side and downtown over the past few weeks. Among the more recent crimes:
- Two carjackers used a handgun to beat a 42-year-old woman as she sat in her car on the 900 block of West School near Boystown around 6:14 p.m. Monday. After battering the women, the offenders dragged her from behind the wheel and prepared to drive off with her car. But a group of witnesses intervened, and the attackers ran away toward the Belmont Red Line station.
- About 30 minutes later, a food delivery driver was carjacked at gunpoint by two men near the North-Clybourn Red Line station, police said.
- The School Street attack came just minutes after a 24-year-old Boystown resident was robbed at gunpoint by two men in the 800 block of West Cornelia. That robbery did not include a vehicle.
- On November 6, a 16-year-old girl was robbed and carjacked at gunpoint in her family’s garage on the 4400 block of North Ashland around 5:15 p.m.
- Last Wednesday, a 31-year-old woman was standing behind her home in the 2500 block of North Southport when a man walked up and demanded her property at gunpoint around 6 p.m., said Officer Hector Alfaro, a CPD spokesperson. An accomplice instructed the woman to comply, and she surrendered her keys, phone, and other items. The men climbed into her black 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee and sped down the alley, Alfaro said.
- About 15 minutes later, a 41-year-old woman was backing out of her garage in the 2600 block of North Bosworth when a man jumped out of a black Jeep Grand Cherokee and approached her while displaying a handgun, Alfaro said. The woman and her 9-year-old son got out of their car, and the gunman drove away with their black 2017 Audi A7. The Jeep followed the Audi northbound.
- Also on November 4, a 67-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint inside his garage on the 1500 block of West Montana around 8:57 a.m., according to Officer Anthony Spicuzza, a CPD spokesperson. The offender walked inside the man’s garage, pointed a gun at him, and demanded his valuables, Spicuzza said. After getting the victim’s keys, cash, and phone, the robber ran from the scene.
- Three other carjackings and robberies were reported last week in Lincoln Park — in the 1800 block of North Sedgwick, the 400 block of West Wrightwood, and the 600 block of West Kemper.
Area Three detectives are investigating the crimes.
