Carjackings in Gold Coast, West Town causing concern

CHICAGO — After a string of carjackings across Gold Coast and West Town, residents are trying to raise the alarm on a point-of-concern for them that affects how safe they feel in their day-to-day lives.

“You expect to hear about carjackings and that’s real problem in the neighborhood and for the city,” said Nick Coombs, a Chicagoan who has lived near West Town for the past six years. “In the last 1 or 2 years is when we really started to get these—not just carjackings but sprees of carjackings and it’s concerning for everyone involved, from police and just a general community standpoint to see this continuing.”

The Chicago Police Department said there were four locations across Gold Coast and West Town that were a part of a carjacking spree this weekend.

The first carjacking happened in the 600 block of North Ashland Avenue on Jan. 6 at around 3 p.m. Police said the victim was approached by two unknown offenders with guns that demanded keys to her vehicle, who then took the victim’s keys, entered the vehicle, and drove away. The victim was not injured. 

The second carjacking happened in the 400 block of North Armour Street on Jan. 6 at around 6:58 p.m. Police said the victim was approached by two unknown offenders with guns that demanded keys to her vehicle. The offenders then took the victim’s keys, entered the vehicle, and drove away. The victim was not injured. 

The third carjacking happened in the 1400 block of North Dearborn Street on Jan. 6 at around 6:30 p.m. Police said the victim’s vehicle was struck in the rear and when the victim exited the vehicle, two offenders displayed handguns and demanded the victim’s keys and vehicle. The offenders fled with the victim’s vehicle. The victims were not injured. 

The fourth carjacking happened in the 1400 block of West Division Street on Jan. 6 at around 6:40 p.m. Police said the victim was approached by two offenders with a gun. The offenders demanded the victim’s belongings and fled, but the vehicle was recovered in the same location. The victim was not injured. 

CPD said charges are pending when it comes to this string of carjackings, but have not elaborated on the details of how many offenders have been arrested and what charges are pending.