CHICAGO — A Skokie man driving a stolen car suffered a broken nose and a closed head injury after “multiple people” tracked him down and “detained” him for Chicago police at a North Side gas station, according to a CPD arrest report.
Cops responded to calls of a battery in progress at the Shell service station, 4346 North Western, on Friday evening. When they arrived, they found those “multiple people” on top of 29-year-old Mergim Mehmeti, the report said.
A Palatine man at the scene told offices that his son borrowed his Kia Stinger to go to sports practice on the North Side, but the son either dropped the car keys or someone stole the keys from his bag. Either way, the Kia was gone after practice.
The man began tracking the Kia using Lojack and his son’s “find my phone” app. Before long, they were at the Shell station, watching Mehmeti as he used the key to get into the Kia, the arrest report continued.
Police said the victim and witnesses “confronted” Mehmeti and detained him until police arrived. The owner claimed he did not know Mehmeti, who was treated at Swedish Hospital for injuries he received during the “detention.”
Charged with felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle, he was subsequently released from custody by Judge David Kelly to await trial.
Court records show Mehmeti completed two years of probation in July for another stolen motor vehicle case. In that incident, prosecutors accused him of breaking into a Skokie auto shop, plowing a Toyota Camry through the garage door, and crashing into another car on the lot. He then returned to the garage and drove away with a Mercedes, officials said.
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