At least three drivers were carjacked overnight in separate incidents stretching from Edgewater to Lakeview to West Town. No arrests have been made.
The hijackings come as Chicago continues to see more carjackings than the record number recorded last year.
In Lakeview, a woman told police she was returning to her white Dodge Durango on the 700 block of West Diversey when three men stepped out of a tan SUV parked nearby around 11:35 p.m. Sunday, a CPD spokesperson said. One of the men was wearing a ski mask.
The group brandished firearms, demanded her keys, and took her valuables. They then drove west in her car, followed by the tan SUV.
According to a CPD report, the woman is a concealed carry holder, and her loaded firearm was inside the stolen car.
Then, around 12:55 a.m. Monday, three men in ski masks stole a man’s gray Toyota Camry at the Shell service station, 5701 North Broadway, in Edgewater.
The group ordered the man to step away from his car and then drove away with the vehicle, a CPD spokesperson said. Chicago police license plate readers spotted the Camry traveling south on Lake Shore Drive at Chicago Avenue a short time later. It was accompanied by a Hyundai that had been hijacked on the West Side about 30 minutes before the Edgewater incident, according to a CPD report.
Finally, around 3 a.m., a 43-year-old man was carjacked at gunpoint in the 1500 block of West Cortez in West Town.
He was standing next to his blue Lexus LS350 when a black car, possibly an Audi, stopped next to him, the police spokesperson said.
Three men stepped out of the black car and one of them, wearing a red bandana, pointed a gun at the victim while another rifled through his pockets and took his keys.
The group then drove away with the victim’s Lexus, which police found abandoned in the 1900 block of South Christiana a short time later.
Rideshare pattern
Separately, police are investigating a carjacking pattern in which hijackers order rideshares and then take the drivers’ cars during the ride, according to a source.
At least two cases were reported Saturday.
A Lyft driver told police that three men who ordered a ride punched him in the face and took his silver Toyota Yaris in the 5900 block of North Kenmore around 4:50 a.m.
The stolen Yaris was later seen traveling with a black Toyota Avalon that had been taken in a similar hijacking ruse on the 9800 block of South Yates, according to a CPD document.
Saturday spree
Also on Saturday morning, an armed group of young men committed at least nine robberies and hijackings in a 70-minute crime wave that stretched from Little Village to North Center and Boystown.
You can read more about it here.
Through July 9, CPD recorded 845 hijackings citywide this year, up from 806 during the same period last year, 503 during the comparable period in 2020, and 264 for 2019.