“People need to realize that you can do everything right and it is still a problem.”
Those are the words of a 23-year-old woman who was targeted by carjackers Friday evening in Lakeview. For some reason, the offenders were unable to get away with her car. So, they decided to hijack a man who was in another vehicle just steps away.
We’ll share more of the woman’s insights in a moment. She contacted us on Saturday afternoon as Chicago police were issuing a community alert about the Lakeview cases.
At least four more hijacking incidents were reported Saturday – in Uptown, the Loop, West Loop, and Little Italy.
Lakeview warning
Area Three detectives said in a community alert that two men are responsible for trying to carjack the woman at 7:29 p.m. Friday and then successfully hijacking another driver in the 3300 block of North Seminary one minute later.
According to the alert, the offenders demanded the woman’s car and both climbed inside. But they got out, ran to the second vehicle, and took that driver’s Toyota Prius at gunpoint.
The hijackers are two Black males between 20- and 27-years-old, the alert said.
A victim speaks out
“I had entered my car only seconds [before] when a man came to the passenger side window and began banging on the window with a hard object, screaming that I get out of the car and give him the keys,” the woman told us in an email.
“I quickly got out of the car and ran while I threw the keys behind me and screamed for help,” she continued.
The men picked up the keys and tried to start her car. But they didn’t leave with it.
“Likely because I was in an extremely tight spot,” the woman said. “The keys were still in the ignition when police got there.”
She was especially concerned that others might think that she was lingering in her parked car, making her a prime target. CPD statements about carjackings frequently say victims were targeted while sitting inside parked vehicles.
“The narrative that I was sitting in my car [might] give people a false sense of security,” the woman wrote in an email. “People need to realize that you can do everything right and it is still a problem.”
More hijackings
Here’s a remarkable statistic: There have been about 7,600 days in the current millennium, but Chicago has seen 12 or more carjackings on just 24 of those days. Sixteen of them were in the past year. And this month had three as of last Saturday, October 23.
Among the hijackings reported Saturday:
- Chicago police arrested a 26-year-old man and five juveniles in the Loop around 8:35 p.m. after the suspects ran from an SUV that was reportedly taken from an off-duty police officer in Evergreen Park.
- A Lyft driver was carjacked at gunpoint when he stopped at a stop sign on the 400 block of North Sangamon around 6:30 p.m. The driver was preparing to turn onto Hubbard Street when the offenders walked up, put a gun to his head, and pulled him out of his red Toyota RAV4. They then headed west on Hubbard with the SUV.
- Around 5:35 p.m., two men took a woman’s black BMW X5 at gunpoint on the 700 block of West Maxwell in Little Italy. It was last seen heading south on Union Avenue.
- Just before 3 a.m., three women in dark hoodies took a woman’s blue Honda Civic at gunpoint on the 4100 block of North Clarendon, according to a preliminary CPD report.
Through October 23, Chicago recorded 147 carjackings this month, up from 111 during the same time last year and 39 during those days in 2019.
Editor’s noteCPD’s’snoteCPD’s’snoteCPD’s’snoteCPD’s’snoteCPD’s’snoteCPD’s’snoteCPD’s’snoteCPD’s’s alert contained erroneous date, time, and location information about the second Lakeview carjacking. We have provided the correct information in this story after verifying the details with the Chicago Police Department.
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