Police are investigating at least three carjackings that were reported late Saturday night into Sunday morning. Hijackings were reported in Albany Park, Wicker Park, and the heart of River North. No arrests have been made.
In River North, seven men confronted a 25-year-old woman as she sat in her car on the Walgreens parking lot, 641 North Clark Street, around 2:10 a.m., according to a report. One of the hijackers displayed a handgun and ordered the woman to get out of her Jeep, Officer Alexis Interrante said. They all escaped in the stolen car, which fled west on Ontario.
CPD officers found the Jeep abandoned near 90th Street and Laflin Street in Brainerd, according to Interrante.
The armed hijacker was described as a Black male with dreadlocks who wore a white shirt with khaki pants.
Police also responded to two other robberies in the area that did not involve carjackings. In one case, a man was strong-arm robbed on the 1000 block of North Clark around 2:50 a.m. In the other, two men implied they had a gun as they robbed a man on the 200 block of East Grand in Streeterville around 4:15 a.m. No arrests have been made in those incidents.
The Wicker Park carjacking unfolded around 6:35 a.m. Sunday in the 1200 block of North Honore, Interrante said. A 28-year-old man had just stepped into his car when a gunman emerged from the passenger seat of a black SUV that pulled up next to him, according to a police report.
The hijacker robbed the driver of his valuables and then drove south on Wolcott with the man’s black 2008 Infiniti G37 accompanied by the SUV. He is described as a clean-shaven Black male in his mid-20s with short hair who stands about 6-feet tall and weighs about 180 pounds.
On Friday afternoon, a 56-year-old woman was carjacked at gunpoint just a block away on the 1200 block of North Wolcott.
In Albany Park, four men wearing masks robbed a man of his phone, wallet, and keys on the 3100 block of West Sunnyside around 11 p.m. Saturday. They then drove away with his white Hyundai Tucson, according to a police report.
Chicago police have recorded 1,165 carjackings this year through September 18, a 37% increase over the same time last year, according to city data.
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