An armed carjacker stole a couple’s vehicle at gunpoint near the Lincoln Park Zoo overnight, then crashed into another car near Boystown as Chicago police closed in, injuring four people, according to police.
The victims were sitting in their red 2020 Dodge Charger in the 2400 block of North Cannon Drive around 12:46 a.m. Sunday when a Jeep SUV pulled in front of them, and a passenger jumped out with a gun, according to a preliminary CPD report.
The gunman ordered the victims, a 47-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman, out of the Charger. Both complied, and the carjacker drove away in their vehicle, a police spokesperson said.
Moments later, officers on patrol spotted the stolen Charger near Halsted Street and Belmont Avenue in Boystown. They began following it as the driver turned west onto Aldine Avenue and traveled the wrong way down the one-way street, according to police.
At the end of the block, the carjacker ran a red light at Clark Street and struck a Toyota sedan carrying two 38-year-old men, the CPD spokesperson said. The collision sent the vehicles into three parked cars. A 28-year-old man and his 27-year-old girlfriend were in the second vehicle. All four of those individuals were taken to hospitals in fair condition.
The carjacker, who was also injured, fled the crash scene but was arrested by officers in an alley behind the 3200 block of North Wilton Avenue. Officers recovered a hoodie and ski mask that he apparently discarded while fleeing. They also found a firearm inside the wrecked Charger, according to the preliminary report. Charges against the carjacker were pending.
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