A "serious breach" in protocol led to what police say was a delay in finding a stolen Volkswagen, which was carjacked from a Libertyville mom with her toddler still inside this week.
The incident unfolded in unincorporated Libertyville Thursday afternoon, when a pregnant mom was attacked and run over in her driveway as carjackers made off with her Volkswagen and 2-year-old son.
The Lake County Sheriff's office said it "immediately called Volkswagen Car-Net, in an attempt to track the vehicle."
"Unfortunately, there was a delay, as Volkswagen Car-Net would not track the vehicle with the abducted child until they received payment to reactivate the tracking device in the stolen Volkswagen," the sheriff's office said.
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The 2-year-old was eventually dropped by the carjackers outside a business in Waukegan, Illinois authorities said.
In a statement to NBC Chicago, a spokesperson for the company said "Volkswagen takes the safety and security of its customers very seriously."
"Our thoughts are with the victims and their family," the statement read. "Volkswagen has a procedure in place with a third-party provider for Car-Net Support Services involving emergency requests from law enforcement. They have executed this process successfully in previous incidents. Unfortunately, in this instance, there was a serious breach of the process. We are addressing the situation with the parties involved."
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The 34-year-old woman and owner of the vehicle, who is six months pregnant, was hospitalized after suffering severe wounds during the incident.
Police are still searching for the suspects, but said they did recover the stolen Volkswagen in a parking lot near the intersection of Route 43 and Casmir Pulaski Street. They're still searching for another vehicle involved in the incident, a BMW stolen in the past week from a car dealership in Waukegan.
"If you see the stolen BMW or have any information about this incident please call the Lake County Sheriff's Criminal Investigations Division at (847) 377-4000 or contact Lake County CrimeStoppers at www.lakecountycrimestoppers.org," the sheriff's office said in a release.
