Police are investigating another carjacking in West Rogers Park today. The neighborhood and, to a lesser extent, Lincoln Square have been hit by an intense series of carjackings that began on July 19.
In the latest crime, a 47-year-old man was sitting in a gray Toyota Sienna minivan on the 2900 block of West Jarvis when a man walked up and pointed a gun at him around 2:39 a.m., said Karie James, a CPD spokesperson.
The carjacker ordered the man out of the vehicle, took the victim’s valuables, and then drove away eastbound with the minivan. According to a CPD report, the victim was borrowing the van from a local rabbi.
Officers at the scene described the carjacker as a Black male in his early to mid-20s who wore glasses, a black hoodie, and black shorts with white trim or stripes.
Those details align closely with the description of a serial carjacker that Chicago police warned about in a recent community alert: a Black male between 20- and 30-years-old who stands 5’6″ to 5’10” tall and weighs 140 to 180 pounds who wears black-rimmed glasses.
Police said the man walks up to victims, displays a handgun, and demands their keys, wallets, and phones. He also orders victims to unlock their phones, and, in two instances, he forced victims to change their phone passwords, according to the alert. The man then drives away with the victim’s car.
According to the alert and CWB’s previous reporting, the pattern involves hijackings:
- in the 6200 block of North Whipple at 2:51 a.m. on July 10
- in the 3000 block of West Hood around 7:45 p.m. on July 19. The hijacker stepped out of a white Volkswagen, pushed a woman, and took her Lexus RX350.
- in the 5200 block of North Washtenaw at 10:30 p.m. on July 19, a carjacker displayed a handgun and took a man’s blue Hyundai Sonata on the 5200 block of North Washtenaw.
- at 10:45 p.m. on July 19, a man got out of a white Volkswagen and took a woman’s red Nissan Rogue at gunpoint on the 2500 block of West Fitch
- around 11:15 p.m. on July 20, two 19-year-old men were sitting inside a black Lexus RX350 on the 3000 block of West North Shore when a hijacker walked up and demanded their property and the car’s keys at gunpoint.
- at 10:30 p.m. on July 20, a man displayed a gun and demanded the victim’s money and phone on the 7000 block of North Rockwell.
Three more possibly-related crimes were reported just hours after police released the warning on July 21.
On Monday, a woman was carjacked at gunpoint on the 6700 block of North Rockwell around 11:10 p.m. She was in front of her home when a man got out of a black Lexus, robbed her of her Apple Watch, keys, and phone, and drove away with her black 2019 Ford Fusion, according to a CPD report.
Also on the North Side, an off-duty Chicago police officer fired three shots at a man who pointed a gun at him during a possible carjacking attempt in Uptown on Sunday night.
The 37-year-old off-duty cop was in the passenger seat of an Audi A3 when a man walked up, asked him if he wanted some crack, and then pointed a handgun at him on the 1200 block of West Ainslie around 11:31 p.m., according to a CPD report.
The officer drew his own gun and fired three shots through the car’s window at the offender, who ran away southbound on Magnolia, the report said. Police searched the area for the suspect, but they came up empty-handed.
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