CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chicago police say there were at least four carjackings between 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Thursday night, and they happened on the North, West, and South sides of the city.
The latest incidents follow a Thursday evening news conference where Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown discussed CPD's strategy to address the recent rise in carjackings. Carjackings in 2020 doubled in Chicago compared to the previous year, and so far in 2021 there have been at least 144 reported.
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According to Chicago police, a 55-year-old man was sitting at a red light in the 400 block of North Cicero Avenue around 6:35 p.m. Thursday when two males approached, one armed with a gun and the other with a short metal pipe.
They demanded the man to get out of his Acura MDX and he complied, but when he did so, the male with the pipe hit him several times, police said.
The carjackers fled in the man’s vehicle, police said. The man was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
Less than two hours later, a 51-year-old woman was carjacked at gunpoint in Kenwood on the South Side.
She was sitting in her gray BMW Sedan around 8 p.m. in the 4500 block of South Ellis Avenue when a black car pulled up alongside, police said. Two males got out of the car and one of them pointed a gun at the woman.
The suspect told the woman to get out of her car and leave her purse and cellphone, police said. The woman complied and the males fled in her BMW. No injuries were reported.
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Meanwhile, 53-year-old rideshare driver was carjacked Thursday just before 9 p.m. in the Bucktown neighborhood. The man drove to the 2100 block of West Cortland Street in his 2015 Infiniti Qx60 when a black Audi sedan pulled up alongside and two males got out, police said.
One of the males pointed a gun at the man and told him to get out of his car, police said. The man complied and the suspects drove off in his Infiniti.
No injuries were reported, police said. The suspects were last seen northbound on Wilmot Avenue.
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Then, around 10:30 p.m. Thursday, a 19-year-old woman was carjacked after she drove into a gas station on the Southwest Side.
According to police, the young woman was about to fill up her car in the 4500 block of South Cicero Avenue when two males walked up to her and one of them pulled out a gun.
The suspect pointed the gun at the woman and told her to get out of her 2006 red Pontiac G6, police said. The woman complied and the suspects drove off in her car.
Police didn’t report any injuries. Area One detectives are investigating.