Chicago — Prosecutors say a five-time felon carjacked a woman in Logan Square in November, then led the Illinois State Police on a high-speed chase that ended with him, his passenger, and a state trooper hospitalized. Judge Mary Marubio ordered Charles Platt, 51, held without bail during a court hearing Thursday.
Chicago police said a 41-year-old woman was getting out of her car in the 2700 block of North Sawyer when Platt and another man confronted her around 5:50 p.m. on November 15.
As she grabbed her backpack from the car, Platt put the woman into a headlock and told her that his companion would shoot her if she did not comply, Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Dale-Schmidt said. The woman argued and struggled with Platt, who tried to grab her purse and eventually gained control of her car keys. He then drove away in her car with his accomplice in the passenger seat, according to Dale-Schmidt.
Later that night, a state trooper spotted the hijacked car and tried to pull it over near 79th Street and Cottage Grove. The driver initially appeared to be pulling over, but he suddenly accelerated to more than 102 mph, ran several red lights, and crashed into a building at 95th Street and Cottage Grove, officials said. The state trooper crashed into a CTA shelter at the same intersection.
Rescue personnel extracted Platt from the hijacked car’s driver’s seat. He was hospitalized with a broken hip and other injuries. The trooper who crashed was also extracted and hospitalized for broken bones. Prosecutors said both cars had passengers, who were also removed from the wreckage by the Chicago Fire Department.
Platt was initially charged on November 16 with possessing a stolen motor vehicle and three felony counts of aggravated fleeing and eluding. Unable to afford his $150,000 bail, Platt has been in the sheriff’s custody since then.
Prosecutors said his criminal background includes robbery convictions in 1995, 2002, and 2010 and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in 1999.
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