A woman was carjacked at gunpoint Monday evening on Milwaukee Avenue in Bucktown, according to an initial police report. CPD issued a community alert about armed hijackings in nearby areas a few hours later, but the Bucktown incident is not included in the pattern.
The Bucktown victim was in her car on the 1900 block of North Milwaukee when a man displayed a handgun and pulled her from her car around 5:20 p.m., the report said. According to the report, she described the suspect as a Black male in his late teens or early 20s who wore a face mask and a black jacket with yellow letters.
New community alert
Area Five detectives have identified a hijacking pattern in Wicker Park, Avondale, and Logan Square. That means investigators believe the same offenders likely committed the crimes.
Two men are displaying guns and threatening to shoot victims if they do not surrender valuables and their vehicles, according to a community alert that CPD issued overnight.
Detectives have linked four hijackings since mid-February to the pair:
At 8:20 p.m. on February 16, one of the men climbed into the passenger seat of a woman’s car as she settled behind the wheel on the 1400 block of North Hoyne, CPD spokesperson Kellie Bartoli said. The other man then opened the 25-year-old driver’s door and pulled her from the car, according to Bartoli.
The hijackers headed north on Hoyne with the woman’s car. CPD plate reading technology detected the stolen car traveling on the 2500 block of North Lakeview in Lincoln Park about 45 minutes later, but officers did not locate the vehicle. No arrests have been made.
At 7:56 p.m. on February 18, a silver minivan pulled in front of a driver on the 3100 block of North Sacramento. Two men emerged from the van with guns and forced the victim from his white Honda Accord.
At 10:03 a.m. on February 19, two men displayed a handgun and confronted a 33-year-old woman on the 1300 block of North Wood in Wicker Park, according to police. They ordered her to turn over the keys to her black BMW X6, and she complied. They were last seen heading North on Wood Street in her car.
Most recently, two men stepped out of a dark-colored vehicle and forced a 65-year-old man from his silver 2020 Hyundai Elantra on the 2100 block of North Maplewood around 2 a.m. Monday, according to police.
According to the community alert, the suspects are:
- a Black male wearing dark clothing
- a Black male with braided hair wearing a blue puffy coat and a ski mask.
Anyone with information about the crimes can contact Area Five detectives at 312-746-7394 about crime pattern P22-5-010.
