Chicago — At the age of 18, Darvell McClellan is facing a host of felony charges after he allegedly sped away from Chicago police and Illinois State Police troopers while driving a hijacked Lexus last week. But even more surprising than the new allegations may be his juvenile background, which prosecutors detailed during his court appearance.
Around 2 p.m. on January 6, a woman was carjacked at gunpoint of her 2017 Lexus SUV in the 7200 block of South Wabash. Late that night, the Chicago police helicopter spotted the Lexus, and state troopers tried to pull it over near the Dan Ryan Expressway and 59th Street, a CPD report said.
The driver sped away, reaching 65 mph on city streets, and eventually crashed into a parked car, according to the report. State troopers arrested McClellan as he ran from the crash scene.
They said they found the carjacking victim’s phone and credit cards in his jacket pocket, but he is not charged with taking the car from her.
He is, however, charged with unlawful transportation of a stolen vehicle, possessing a stolen motor vehicle, and aggravated fleeing.
McClellan’s attorney said he is still in high school, and he volunteers for the park district.
Prosecutors painted a different picture of McClellan. They said he was adjudicated delinquent three times as a juvenile: for robbery in 2019, for possessing a stolen motor vehicle in 2021, and for aggravated battery by discharging a firearm — the lawyerly way of saying “shooting someone” — also in 2021.
After hearing from the attorneys, Judge Mary Marubio ordered McClellan to pay a $5,000 bail deposit to go home on electronic monitoring. He remained in Cook County jail as of Sunday night.
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