Police are investigating a carjacking that occurred in Chicago’s West Loop on Monday evening. It’s the second hijacking reported in the neighborhood since Saturday night.
The victim was near his white 2006 Range Rover when a thief snatched the keys from his hand on the 800 block of West Van Buren around 7:30 p.m., according to a police report. Although they fought for control of the keys, the offender escaped with the vehicle.
A surveillance video shows the carjacker standing about 5’10” tall with long dreadlocks and wearing a black ski mask, a gray t-shirt, and faded jeans.
Another driver told police he was carjacked Saturday by a man who displayed a gun on the 300 block of North Green around 11:30 p.m.
The CPD took 555 carjacking reports between January 1 and May 2 this year, an increase from 531 at this point last year. The period had 264 cases in 2020 and 160 in 2019, according to the city’s data portal.
In April, there were 116 reported carjackings citywide, an increase of 16%. April last year had 100 cases, April 2020 had 64, and April 2019 had 45.
