CHICAGO — A suburban man accused of punching a 15-year-old boy during a carjacking while an accomplice pulled the child’s mother from the family car has been sentenced to four years of probation. Judge Carol Howard handed 34-year-old Douglas Cluchey the sentence on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular hijacking, court records show.
In October 2021, the boy drove his mother to a restaurant in the 800 block of West Chicago Avenue and then went inside to pick up their food order. While he was in the restaurant, a woman dragged his 49-year-old mother out of their 2011 Honda Pilot, stomped on her foot, and claimed to have a gun, prosecutors said. Cluchey allegedly jumped into the driver’s seat.
When the boy came outside to investigate the commotion, Cluchey punched him in the face twice, prosecutors claimed. He and his accomplice then drove away with the vehicle. A surveillance camera recorded the carjacking, and Cluchey’s distinctive tattoos are visible in the footage, prosecutors said. But neither the boy nor his mother could identify Cluchey as the carjacker.
Doctors at St. Mary’s Hospital treated the boy for a concussion and the mother for an injured ankle and contusions on her body.
Police located the SUV in a parking lot in suburban Hillside by tracking a GPS device. The car was “filled with drugs and used needles,” and Cluchey was in the driver’s seat, a prosecutor said during Cluchey’s first court appearance a couple of days later.
According to information provided by prosecutors, the hijacking is Cluchey’s fifth felony conviction since 2010. His previous cases include two burglaries, theft, and mob action.
The case remained active for over three years because Cluchey had not appeared in court since December 2021. A warrant was issued and the matter was put on hold until last June. The reason for Cluchey’s absence is unclear.
Prosecutors dropped 11 other felonies he faced in the carjacking case, including the most serious charge of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a passenger younger than 16.
