Chicago — Prosecutors say a man armed with a cinderblock carjacked an Amazon delivery truck on the Near West Side, then drove recklessly for about a mile, striking several cars and leaving two people in one of the vehicles severely injured. One of the crash victims may not survive.
Jeremy Ofori, 30, was ordered held without bail by Judge Charles Beach on Tuesday afternoon. At the start of his bail hearing, Ofori cursed and yelled, and his assistant public defender speculated that he was experiencing “possibly some kind of psychotic break.”
Just after 1 p.m. on Sunday, an Amazon driver returned to her truck after making a delivery in the 1800 block of West Maypole and discovered Ofori standing near her vehicle, which had a freshly broken side window, prosecutors said.
Ofori allegedly approached the 28-year-old driver while holding a large cinderblock at chest level and asked, “Where are the keys?” The woman handed the keys over and asked Ofori not to hurt her.
Surveillance cameras inside the vehicle recorded Ofori driving away with the truck, and its dashcam showed that he swerved in and out of traffic, drove on the wrong side of the street, ran red lights, struck several parked cars, and collided with a car occupied by a man and woman in the 100 block of North Damen.
The male crash victim suffered brain damage and facial fractures. Prosecutors said he might not survive. The woman underwent surgery to repair a diaphragm injury.
Ofari ran from the scene, but a witness and Chicago police chased him down. CPD body camera footage showed Ofari holding a cinderblock and a wrench before police took him into custody, prosecutors said.
He is charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking. Investigators are still working on possibly securing charges for leaving the scene of an accident.
Ofari has no convictions in Cook County, but he has three misdemeanor convictions in Connecticut, most recently for larceny and assault earlier this year.