An armed hijacker took a driver’s vehicle in Lincoln Park on Friday evening, steps from the landmark Alexander Hamilton statue and not far from where a similar hijacking took place one week earlier, according to Chicago police.
Around 8 o’clock last night, the victim parked his 2019 Toyota Corolla in the 2700 block of North Cannon Drive. He said the hijacker came up from behind while he was exiting the vehicle and put a gun to his neck.
The hijacker demanded the victim’s car and ordered a male passenger in the vehicle to get out, a CPD spokesperson said. They both complied, and the carjacker headed south on Cannon with the man’s car.
Police found the stolen car abandoned a couple of hours later in the 3600 block of West Flournoy in Garfield Park, according to the spokesperson.
The offender was described as a male wearing a mask.
At around 9:40 p.m. last Friday, a 63-year-old man was sitting in his newly-purchased Toyota Highlander in the 2600 block of North Hampden Court in Lincoln Park. A gunman entered the front passenger door and ordered him out at gunpoint, a CPD spokesperson said.
The suspect was described as a Black male wearing a black bandana on his face and all black clothing.
Hijacking reports continue to outpace last year’s record-setting number, according to CPD data. Police recorded 806 cases during the first six months of the year, up from 760 during the period last year, 472 in the first half of 2020, and 251 as of July 1, 2019.
June also outpaced the same month last year, with 143 cases compared to 129. According to the city’s data portal, there were 114 in June 2020 and 47 in June 2019.
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