Police in the western suburbs responded to at least three carjackings or attempted carjackings over the weekend, including one in which a man whipped with a replica gun in Elmhurst and one that left a woman shot in Aurora.
Police didn’t say if the incidents were connected.
In Naperville, police briefly chased carjacking suspects after they stole a woman’s Dodge Charger at gunpoint Saturday afternoon in the 400 block of East Bailey Road, police said. Officers followed the car onto I-88, but stopped the pursuit near Midwest Road.
In Aurora, a woman was shot and critically wounded during a carjacking Saturday in a Wendy’s parking lot. She was eating in her car in the 1200 block of North Orchard Road when two gunmen drove up and pulled her out of her car, police said. One of the suspects shot her in the back and drove off in her 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe.
Officers found the suspect’s Ford Escape in the parking lot, and learned the car had been carjacked in Dekalb County less than an hour earlier, police said.
Sunday morning in Elmhurst, a man was whipped by two suspects who tried to steal his car in the driveway of his home in the 500 block of North Emroy Avenue, police said in a social media post. The man, who had been shoveling snow at the time, struggled over the gun and gained control of it, later discovering it was a replica gun. The suspects left in a silver 2020 Toyota RAV 4 and the 60-year-old man was left with minor injuries, police said.
Police in Olympia Field reported three carjackings at local gas stations in recent months. Authorities there urged people to lock their car doors when pumping gas, stay off cell phones and be aware of surroundings.
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At least one arrest has been made so far in those incidents as authorities urge residents to sign up for a village alert system.
Police in Chicago faced a steep rise in carjackings over the last year. In 2020, carjackings in Chicago more than doubled compared with the year before.
Police advise drivers standing outside their vehicles to comply if someone comes up to you and demands the car. Otherwise, police say those in a parked car who can safely leave should do so.
