Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is calling on judges to take more action, and Police Supt. David Brown is working to call attention to what he described as a “sad state of affairs” after an 11-year-old boy was arrested and charged with a felony in connection to a carjacking case.
According to Brown, the boy, who was not named in documents because he is a juvenile, was arrested and charged with felony aggravated vehicular hijacking in connection with a theft in the 4700 block of North Cumberland earlier this month.
Police say that a 48-year-old woman was carjacked at the location on Nov. 14, and the boy was taken into custody this week.
“This is a sad state of affairs,” Brown said. “This 11-year-old has been arrested before, and he is considered a prolific carjacker in our city.”
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According to police, the boy had previously been charged with being in a stolen car earlier this year in Evergreen Park.
The arrest comes amid continuing increases in carjackings across the city, including those involving underage offenders.
Lightfoot, speaking during a press conference Monday, criticized judges for releasing suspects in similar cases without ensuring that proper support was offered, and without considering conditions of release, including electronic monitoring.
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“We’ve got a crisis in the city where we see too many young people who are involved in carjackings going to juvenile court and then being put back on the street to their parents,” she said. “We cannot keep putting these kids back out on the street with no support, no resources, no monitoring.”
Lightfoot says she plans to meet with judges in coming days to discuss the issue, and says she will encourage judges and other officials to take action to combat the problem.
