Four people are in custody after a 66-year-old woman was carjacked in Wicker Park on Thursday evening, according to Chicago police and the Illinois State Police. Another woman was hit in the face during another carjacking attempt in nearby West Town earlier in the evening, but no arrests have been announced in that case.
Just before 9 p.m., a 66-year-old woman was confronted by a man as she stepped out of her car in the 1600 block of North Oakley, Chicago police said. The man snatched her keys and drove away with her Toyota SUV, which was accompanied by a dark blue SUV.
ISP troopers heard about the hijacking and located the stolen Toyota with the assistance of an air unit, according to a state police spokesperson. Troopers followed the car to 49th Street and Central Avenue, where four suspects were arrested after running from the vehicle, the spokesperson said, citing preliminary information.
There was no immediate word on what criminal charges, if any, had been approved.
Earlier in the evening, a pregnant 35-year-old woman was targeted in a carjacking attempt in the 1100 block of North Sacramento. Chicago police said the woman was standing near her car when two men approached her and demanded the keys. The men hit the woman in her face, but they fled after failing to get control of her car.
Officers who responded to the scene said the men and a third person escaped in a blue Mitsubishi SUV.
Carjacking reports in Chicago are beginning to fall behind last year’s record pace. The city had 125 hijackings in October, down from 194 during the same month last year, which was the fifth-worst month for hijackings in the city this millennium.
Last November was the fourth-worst, and last December was the third-worst.