Police are searching for a suspect they believed tried to carjack one woman and kidnapped another in a suburban parking lot within minutes.
The incidents both happened Tuesday night in a large Hickory Hills parking lot in the 9600 block of Roberts Road.
In the first encounter, a woman said she was sitting in her vehicle when someone approached, showed her a black handgun and ordered her to unlock her car. The victim refused and drove away from the area before calling police.
At the same location, a suspect matching the same description, walked up to another woman who was sitting in her vehicle, authorities said. The suspect entered her unlocked car, pointed a gun at her and told her to drive away from the area. The victim drove a short distance before she was ordered to pull into a parking lot of a closed business. She was ordered to get into the back seat of the vehicle, but fought with the suspect, causing him to flee, police said.
Officers responded to the scene but were unable to find the suspect. They did recover an airsoft pistol they say was used in the incidents.
The attacks are believed to be connected with a third similar encounter reported in Palos Hills last Friday, police said.
In that case, a woman who was returning home from work and left her car near 99th Terrace and 84th Avenue when she was accosted, police said. The woman left the area around 5 a.m., after the attack, and drove to 103rd and Harlem, where she met with officers. The suspect fled with her purse, wallet and cell phone, police said.
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The suspect is described as African-American, between the ages of 16 and 18 years old, with a small build, about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds. In both attacks he was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.
Anyone with information on the incidents is being asked to call (708) 598-4900.