The owner of a tricked out conversion van was carjacked on the West Side early Saturday, but the three suspects didn’t get far because he was able to remotely turn off its ignition, police said. No one was hurt.
The three accused are expected in Cook County Criminal court Sunday: Terrell Bell, 21, of 50th and Wood streets; Eddie Jones, 18, of 45th Street and Evans Avenue; and Brian Reed, 19, of the 7700 block of South Clyde Avenue, police said.
The three are each charged with three counts of armed robbery and one count of vehicular hijacking, police said.
About midnight Saturday the van owner was at a BP gas station, 603 S. Independence Blvd., when two suspects ordered all eight occupants out and took the van by force, police said.
Police say the van was quite expensive, with 42-inch rims and 58-inch speakers.
The suspects drove off it with, getting onto the eastbound Eisenhower Expressway. But moments later, the owner used an electronic device to remotely turn off the engine, police said.
The owner also flagged down a nearby Chicago police officer who found the stopped van with the two suspects inside, on a shoulder of the Ike near Sacramento.
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A short foot chase ensued as one of the two suspects ran while the other jumped into a “getaway vehicle’” being driven by the third suspect who was following the van, according to police.
The suspect who ran was quickly caught, and other police units chased after the fleeing car and stopped it on a ramp for Sacramento nearby, taking into custody its driver and the third accomplice, police said.
Illinois State Police District Chicago Master Sgt. Anthony Hoop said his troopers assisted. The road was not shut down, but the troopers searched the area off the Ike for contraband and weapons. No guns were found.
A physical lineup was done at Harrison Area police headquarters.
Harrison Area detectives are investigating.
