Police are investigating two armed carjackings that occurred about a block apart in Wicker Park on Monday evening and early Tuesday. The robberies have similar details, but Chicago police have not publicly linked the crimes.
Around 7 p.m., residents reported three men in a maroon Mitsubishi acting suspiciously in the area. According to witnesses, the men were wearing ski masks and riding slowly through alleys while staring at people.
Cops were looking for the Mitsubishi when the first carjacking was reported at 7:11 p.m. in the 1900 block of West Wabansia.
A CPD spokesman said that two men got out of a maroon vehicle with a gun and confronted a 38-year-old woman as she walked away from her car.
They pointed the gun at her face, shoved her to the ground, demanded her property, and then drove away with her silver Audi Q5. A third man followed the Audi in the maroon vehicle, police said. The cars were last seen westbound in the north alley of Wabansia.
According to officers who responded to the call, the suspects are Black males in their 20s or late teens. One of the men had dreadlocks and was dressed in a maroon jacket, a face mask, and jeans.
Later, a man and woman who are both 23-years-old, were robbed and carjacked in a nearly identical fashion in the 1700 block of North Wolcott around 12:25 a.m., according to a CPD spokesperson.
The victims were in a black Audi when another car pulled up, and three men jumped out while brandishing handguns. According to the spokesperson, the hijackers forced the victims out of the vehicle, shoved them to the ground, and demanded their property.
They then fled in the victims’ car.
Officers said the suspects were three Black males who all wore black hoodies and ski masks. They had at least two guns and were accompanied by a red car that may have been a Mazda.
Hijacking reports in Wicker Park and Bucktown were lower in the first half of 2022 compared to last year. Through June 30, there were 13 cases, compared to 21 during the same period last year.
Still, the number of cases remains elevated for the neighborhoods, which had just three hijackings during the first half of 2019.