Chicago police are investigating an armed carjacking in Boystown and another hijacking attempt in the Gold Coast. It’s unclear whether both crimes, which occurred just a few hours apart, were committed by the same group.
The first victim, a 59-year-old rideshare driver, was targeted outside the Ambassador Chicago Hotel, 1301 North State, around 10:46 p.m. Monday, according to a Chicago police report.
A gunman opened the driver’s door and ordered him out of the vehicle, and the victim complied, a CPD spokesperson said. But upon getting into the car, the hijacker noticed the keys weren’t in the ignition, and two accomplices went through the driver’s pockets to find them, according to CPD.
They took the man’s wallet but didn’t find his keys, and they fled the scene, leaving the car behind.
Later, a 30-year-old man was carjacked in the 800 block of West Grace.
The police spokesperson said he was sitting in his car when three men walked up and one ordered him out of his vehicle around 4:13 a.m. Another robber took the man’s valuables, and the group drove away with his orange 2021 Dodge Charger. A fourth vehicle, described as a gray sedan, followed the Charger out of the neighborhood.
Carjacking reports in the city have dropped 27% this year compared to last year’s record pace. As of May 15, Chicago police had filed 441 vehicular hijacking cases, down from 607 at the same time in 2022.
There were 36 reports filed in the first 15 days of May, down from 58 last year.
But the number of hijacking cases is still well above pre-pandemic levels, according to the city’s crime data portal.