A 22-year-old Chicago man posed as a potential car buyer to carjack the vehicle’s owner at gunpoint, then crashed moments later in front of a Chicago police patrol car. Prosecutors said Michael Phillips arranged a test drive of a gray 2008 Mercedes sedan and met at the victim’s home in the 5400 block of West Potomac Avenue around 11 a.m. on April 3.
During the drive, Phillips allegedly pressed a gun to the back of the victim’s head and said, “You want to die? I’ll kill you.” The victim got out of the car.
Moments later, a CPD officer saw the Mercedes traveling on Armitage Avenue with no license plates, tires screeching, and swerving lane to lane, according to a CPD report. The officer then saw the driver lose control while turning north from Armitage onto Laporte Avenue, striking two parked cars. Phillips bailed out of the driver’s seat and ran, the report said. Officers chased him and took him into custody after a foot chase.
While officers were running the car’s ownership information, they heard a radio dispatch describing a robbery in which two men had met with a woman’s husband to purchase a vehicle, held him at gunpoint, and driven off in his 2008 Mercedes sedan, the CPD report said. They brought the victim to the crash scene, and he allegedly identified Phillips as the man who put the gun to his head and took his Mercedes.
Phillips had two active warrants out of Wisconsin at the time of the hijacking, officials said. He was detained by Judge Luciano Panici, Jr. on a charge of aggravated vehicular hijacking.
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