CHICAGO — A woman was carjacked at gunpoint while dropping off a passenger in Lakeview on Friday afternoon, Chicago police said.
The car pulled into an alley in the 3500 block of North Marshfield around 4:47 p.m., and the 44-year-old driver stopped to let her passenger get out, a CPD spokesperson said.
That’s when a man walked up, displayed a gun, and ordered everyone out of the victim’s beige 2014 Volkswagen CC.
Then he drove away with the car.
Police believe the carjacker arrived in a white sedan with two other occupants. An officer at the scene described the gunman as a young Black male wearing a black hoodie and dark jeans.
Carjacking reports citywide are down 28% compared to last year. But the number of cases seen so far this year, 499 as of last Saturday, is more than double the number at this point in 2019.
Vehicular hijacking cases began to fade last summer as the “Kia Boy” phenomenon arrived in Chicago.
Using a simple technique shared widely on social media, thieves can steal many Kia and Hyundai models with little more than a USB plug.
Auto theft reports skyrocketed immediately, and there are no signs that the problem will end soon. Car theft reports are up 134% this year compared to the same time last year and up 235% compared to 2019, according to CPD’s latest CompStat data.
In the four weeks ending June 11, CPD recorded 2,317 motor vehicle thefts, up 153% from the 917 thefts seen during those weeks last year.
That accelerated pace is continuing despite the automakers’ recent offer to install a software update that, they claim, will prevent their cars from being stolen with USB plugs. In April, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul called on the federal government to recall vulnerable Kia and Hyundai models in the interest of public safety. So far, that has not happened.