Chicago — Two men who got stuck in traffic while cops chased a recently-hijacked car on Lake Shore Drive have been sentenced to six years in prison. Another man has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to carjacking an Uber driver with a Taser in Logan Square last year.
Traffic nightmare
Two men who carjacked a driver on the Southwest Side, only to be arrested when they got stuck in a traffic jam as police tracked them on Lake Shore Drive, have been sentenced to six years in prison.
Cops arrested Carlos Carlin and Joshua Saldana after they drove the allegedly hijacked Nissan Altima into bumper-to-bumper traffic near Oak Street Beach in June 2021.
Prosecutors said during an initial bail hearing that a 28-year-old man was sitting in his car on the 8100 block of South Pulaski around 12:25 p.m. when Carlin pointed a gun at him and ordered him to get out of the vehicle. The man complied. Saldana got behind the wheel while Carlin jumped into the passenger seat and sped away.
But the joyride reached an abrupt end when the Altima became bogged down in a traffic jam on the 1100 block of North Lake Shore Drive, and the cops moved in with guns drawn.
Both men pleaded guilty to reduced charges of armed robbery without a firearm. Prosecutors dropped several other felonies both men faced, including vehicular hijacking and unlawful restraint.
Judge Carol Howard sentenced the men, who will each receive 50% sentence reductions for good behavior and 495 days credit for time spent in jail.
Uber zapper
When Bicarius Young appeared in bond court in September 2021, a Cook County prosecutor said authorities “believed” he hijacked four different Uber drivers while armed with a Taser on the same day.
But, prosecutors only charged him with one case, and Young, 20, has pleaded guilty in exchange for a four-year prison sentence.
Young and an accomplice were captured on video as they ordered takeout food from a Thai restaurant on the 2900 block of North Sawyer and then climbed into an Uber that they summoned under the user name “Lil Split,” prosecutors said during a bail hearing in September 2021.
As they approached their destination, Young and the other man allegedly tazed the 56-year-old driver on both sides of his body and ordered him out of the car. The accomplice pushed the man to the ground before driving away with his black Toyota Highlander.
According to prosecutors, Young would later admit to crashing the Highlander when he spilled his Thai food and became distracted while driving it.
Before Young was arrested, Chicago police issued a community alert that linked four hijackings of ride-hail service drivers to a two-man team that attacked their victims with stun guns. In addition to the case Young pleaded guilty to, police said drivers were carjacked on the 9700 block of South Princeton, the 2600 block of North Mozart, and the 3500 block of West Ohio at 11:18 p.m. on the same day.
Young was initially charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking with a weapon, but prosecutors agreed to let him plead guilty to a reduced charge of vehicular hijacking. They also dropped other felonies, such as aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint, and possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Judge Michael McHale sentenced Young, who is expected to be released from prison on August 25, 2023, after serving half of his sentence.
Probation sentence
Quanzell Marshall, 20, has received a sentence of three-years probation in exchange for his guilty plea in a September 2020 carjacking on the North Side.
A West Ridge woman told police a man walked up to her when she got out of her car in the 1900 block of West Hood and said, “Give me everything, or I will blow your sh*t up.” She handed over her car keys and walked away. The man sped off with her white Hyundai Tuscon.
But the woman still had her phone, so she called 911 and began tracking the stolen car on an app. Police located the SUV near Clark and LaSalle in Old Town and arrested Marshall.
Judge Earl Hoffenberg sentenced Marshall on October 28.
You can support CWBChicago’s start-to-finish tracking of court cases by becoming a subscriber.