It’s good news, bad news for a Humboldt Park man who was accused of carjacking two drivers in March 2019.
The good news is prosecutors have agreed to drop charges in a hijacking that took place in Lakeview. The bad news? He’s getting an eight-year sentence in the other case.
Police initially arrested Gamaliel Cabrera in connection with an armed robbery and carjacking in the 2900 block of North Greenview around 5:47 a.m. on March 19, 2019. The 28-year-old victim told police he was walking when two men emerged from a small car, displayed a gun, and ordered him to surrender his phone and car keys. They then drove away with his 2018 Buick Encore SUV.
Later the same day, police found the stolen SUV parked on the 1400 block of North Maplewood, not far from where Cabrera lived. According to court records, they put the car under surveillance and tried to arrest Cabrera when he got into the car that afternoon.
But Cabrera ran from the SUV — only to have his escape thwarted when his pants leg got snared by a spike on top of a wrought iron fence, police said. The Buick’s keys were allegedly in his pants pocket.
Three weeks later, police linked Cabrera to another carjacking that took place eleven days before the Lakeview hijacking. In that case, a 37-year-old Lisle resident said an offender pointed a gun at him on the 600 block of North Oakley at 5:50 a.m. and said, “give me your keys and walk away.” He complied, and the carjacker drove off with his Toyota Camry.
Prosecutors charged Cabrera with that hijacking, too, after the victim allegedly identified him as the robber.
Judge William Raines said Cabrera would need to serve 85% of his eight-year sentence in the Oakley carjacking. But he’ll receive credit for the 820 days he has spent in jail since being arrested. The Lakeview case has been dropped.