Two boys, ages 16 and 17, were part of a group that pulled a couple from their car during a hijacking in the West Loop on Sunday night, Chicago police said. They are charged with vehicular hijacking.
The victims were in their Audi Q7 on a parking lot in the 500 block of West Van Buren when five or six males pulled them from the vehicle around 11:14 p.m., police said.
CPD officers quickly spotted the stolen car in traffic. They tailed it until the driver crashed on the 1400 block of West Grand a few minutes later. Police arrested the teens, who were among the people who ran from the wrecked Audi.
A woman who was in the vehicle the hijackers struck was taken to a local hospital with injuries that police said are not life-threatening.
CPD recorded 698 carjackings this year through June 10, slightly more than the 666 cases reported during the period last year. The comparative periods saw 400 cases in 2020 and 215 in 2019.
From May 1 through June 10, there were 148 carjackings citywide, roughly the same as the 143 cases reported during the period last year. In 2020, there were 138 cases during the period and only 60 in 2019.