CHICAGO — Prosecutors have charged a Chicago man with carjacking a vehicle used to rob eight women in Lincoln Park on Tuesday morning.
Tony Davis, 23, is not accused of participating in the Lincoln Park robbery spree. But prosecutors say he and a still at large accomplice did carjack a man in Chinatown late Monday night.
At about 11:37 p.m., a 29-year-old man returned home in the 300 block of West Cermak and backed into his parking space, noticing two men wandering around the parking lot. As soon as he exited his Toyota RAV4, Davis grabbed his wrist from behind and warned the victim that he had a gun, prosecutor Joseph Sorrentino said. But no weapon was ever seen during the carjacking.
Davis demanded the victim’s keys, then punched him in the jaw when he hesitated, according to Sorrentino. The accomplice rifled through the man’s pockets, and Davis allegedly took his wallet and car keys. Sorrentino said they got into the victim’s SUV and fled the scene with Davis behind the wheel.
Starting about 30 minutes later, the hijacked SUV was used by at least two men to rob eight women in Lincoln Park. The offenders implied that they had a gun each time, but police said none of the victims saw a weapon.
Chicago police officers saw the hijacked SUV speeding near Madison and Kostner in West Garfield Park around 1:24 a.m. Tuesday. It sped away from them, then crashed into a street light. Police arrested Davis as he tried to run from the driver’s seat, Sorrentino said.
Davis has no adult criminal background, but he was adjudicated delinquent for robbery and theft in 2017, according to Sorrentino.
Judge Maryam Ahmad set bail at $300,000. Davis must post 10% of that amount to go home on electronic monitoring. He’s charged with vehicular hijacking, aggravated robbery, and misdemeanor driving without a license.