Just three months after getting out of prison for armed robbery, Benjamin Villanueva is facing new charges after Chicago police say he carjacked a couple at gunpoint near the Lincoln Park Zoo and crashed the stolen vehicle moments later, injuring four people as officers closed in.
Villanueva, 32, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for a 2020 armed robbery, but his time was reduced to six years under state law. He was released on July 2.
According to a preliminary Chicago Police Department report, the carjacking occurred around 12:46 a.m. Sunday, when a couple was sitting in their red 2020 Dodge Charger in the 2500 block of North Cannon Drive. A Jeep SUV pulled in front of them, and a passenger jumped out with a gun, police said. 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, according to a police spokesperson.
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 drove the wrong way down the one-way street, police said. At the end of the block, the driver ran a red light at Clark Street and struck a Toyota sedan carrying two 38-year-old men, according to police. The collision sent vehicles into three parked cars. A 28-year-old man and his 27-year-old girlfriend were also in a vehicle involved in the crash, police said. All four people injured in the collision were taken to hospitals in fair condition.
Officers arrested Villanueva in an alley behind the 3200 block of North Wilton Avenue. Police recovered a hoodie and ski mask that he apparently discarded while fleeing, along with a firearm inside the wrecked Charger, according to the preliminary report.
Villanueva is charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm, aggravated battery of a peace officer, and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. He is scheduled for a detention hearing on Monday afternoon.
Police records show Villanueva was also arrested for carjacking in 2015. He pleaded guilty to armed robbery in that case and received a 10-year prison sentence, which was also reduced by half under state law. His other felony convictions include aggravated battery in 2020 and aggravated DUI in 2014, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
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