After a brazen carjacking-turned-crash in broad daylight on the Dan Ryan Expressway was captured in a viral video, the Cook County Sheriff's Office is slated to announce a renewed crackdown on carjacking on Thursday morning.
The three-minute video was captured by a Joliet iron worker, who later had a face-to-face encounter with the perpetrator when he offered him money for a ride.
The man said he was driving home from work last Friday morning when he noticed a crash in the southbound lanes of the expressway and people bailing from the vehicle.
While he initially thought the people leaving the vehicle may have been hurt or were checking on the other car, he quickly learned that was not the case, comparing the scene to "real life Grand Theft Auto."
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The man kept recording and witnessed a man dressed in black with a black ski mask with what appeared to be a gun in his waistband. According to the witness, he kept walking back and forth down the lanes, and eventually asked the witness to give him a ride, offering him money.
According to the witness, the man then tried to carjack passing vehicles, eventually fleeing the scene in a red SUV that was stopped due to the crash ahead.
"I mean, he didn't pull his gun out, but the gentleman froze. He kind of fell out of the car with the car still in drive," the witness said.
Local
The Cook County Sheriff's Office confirms 2,098 carjacking incidents last year across the county, more than double the amount seen in New York City and Los Angeles combined.
Historically, the worst still may be ahead for the Chicago area, as November and December have seen the highest amount of carjackings in Cook County in the past.
The Cook County Sheriff's Office is expected to announce the next phase of an anti-carjacking strategy that involves pre-authorized tracking in a Thursday morning press conference. The strategy was initially announced by the office last year.
