Tag Archives: carjacking

Carjacking suspect charged in shooting that wounded CPD officer

Charles Lawson | Chicago Police photo

(CHICAGO) A 24-year-old carjacking suspect who was on probation for armed robbery has been charged in a shooting that wounded a Chicago Police officer during a high-speed chase Tuesday night on the South Side.

Charles Lawson opened fire on squad cars chasing him as he sped around the Roseland neighborhood in a car he had reportedly stolen, and 35-year-old Officer Brandon McDonald sustained a graze wound in his face in the melee, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Despite his injury, McDonald rejoined the chase after he and his partner pulled over to check the wound, according to dashcam video of the chase released by CPD on Wednesday, after charges against McDonald were filed.

“I’m f—— shot. I’m hit! I’m hit,” McDonald can be heard saying on the video. After checking the extent of his wounds, McDonald can be heard again before they resume their pursuit: “F – – – this s – – -. Let’s go get him.”

Lawson was charged with four counts of attempted murder, aggravated battery, possession of a stolen vehicle, aggravated hijacking and aggravated fleeing and eluding police, Chicago Police said.

About 10 p.m. Tuesday in the 600 block of East 100th Place, McDonald and his partner began tailing Lawson, who was riding in a black sedan matching the description of one reported stolen in a car-jacking moments earlier. After accelerating away from the officers, the chase began in earnest. After a few blocks, a gunshot is heard on the video, then another a few seconds later. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Tuesday that McDonald’s face was wounded as he sped behind Lawson in the 10000 block of South Eggleston.

As McDonald and his partner swerve to the side of the street, a second police vehicle takes the lead position in the pursuit, with officers reporting more gunshots before opening fire on Lawson’s sedan. Though a dozen gunshots were heard on the dashcam video, Guglielmi said Lawson was not struck.

On the video, Lawson’s vehicle can be seen swerving and colliding with a parked car, then coming to a stop as smoke rises from the front end of his car. Lawson tosses a pistol out the window onto the street before climbing out of the driver’s seat and crawling onto the ground.

Both videos capture McDonald storming up from his damaged squad car and marching the handcuffed Lawson into the back seat, cursing the suspect out as they walk.

“You’ll never see the light of day, son,” he tells the suspect as he stuffs Lawson into the back of the squad.

In police radio traffic picked up by the dashcam, officers report seeing someone “bailing out” of the car during the chase before Lawson crashed. From the back seat, Lawson seems to put the blame for the gunfire on his errant passenger.

“It wasn’t me, man,” Lawson shouts as McDonald walks away. “Y’all didn’t see him get out, man?”

Police didn’t mention another suspect in their statement. Department of Corrections records show Lawson served three months in prison on two counts of armed robbery without a firearm, and had been out on parole for less than four months.

McDonald was treated at Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for injuries that were not life-threatening. At the hospital Tuesday night, Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said McDonald would be fine, and that the shootout was an example of both the dangers of police work and the problem of repeat offenders finding ways to get firearms.

“The officer injured will be OK, but it just goes to show you, again, how people are out here with all these weapons and they’re not afraid to use them,” Johnson said.

“These police officers have a difficult job, every day, you know, they put their lives on the line,” he said. “We get scrutinized and criticized for everything we do, this is a difficult job, but they continue to do it despite everything going on. These officers knew that was a vehicle taken in a carjacking and they went to the vehicle, as opposed to away from it. The men and women of the Chicago Police Department are doing what they’re supposed to do, but this just illustrates how dangerous it is.”

At a press conference Wednesday, Johnson noted McDonald and his partner had been on patrol in the same neighborhood when they came across an elderly woman who appeared disoriented. The two officers figured out where the woman lived, and when they returned with her, discovered she had little food. In a story that was featured on local news, and became a viral hit, the two officers went to a nearby Jewel and returned with groceries for the woman, paid for out of their own pocket.

– Chicago Sun-Times

Man gets 10 years for Park Ridge carjacking vehicle with sleeping boy inside

Deangelo Fountain | Park Ridge police

(CHICAGO) An Evanston man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for carjacking a vehicle with a sleeping boy in the back seat.

Deangelo Fountain also received an additional four years behind bars for a 2013 residential burglary, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

Fountain, now 19, had been wearing an electronic bracelet for the suburban burglary case when he swiped the white Audi in Park Ridge last year while a pregnant woman was unloading groceries in her driveway.

The startled woman jumped on top of the vehicle’s hood as Fountain started backing out.

The woman screamed “My baby is in the car. My baby is in the car!” Cook County prosecutors said.

She was able to pull open the driver’s side door and grab Fountain’s arm. But Fountain pushed her away and drove off.

Minutes later, when he noticed the boy sleeping in the back, Fountain panicked and left the car in a Skokie alley, prosecutors said.

Fountain, who attended a special-needs school in Arlington Heights, then hopped on a bus, got a haircut and went home.

The boy was found unharmed after an Amber Alert was issued.

Fountain pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular hijacking and residential burglary Tuesday before Judge Lauren Gottainer Edidin in the Skokie courthouse, court records show.

He has to serve his sentences for the carjacking and burglary consecutively for a total of 14 years in prison.

Update: Dogs found safe after carjackers steal dog day care van

(Chicago)  Seven dogs inside a van that was carjacked Wednesday afternoon from the River West neighborhood have been found safe, police confirmed Thursday morning.

The van was found in the 2100 block of South Wabash a few minutes before 11 a.m., according to Chicago Police.

An anonymous citizen called police to report a dog sitting inside a gray van on that block, and that it had been there for at least an hour, according to a police source. She was concerned for the dog’s safety.

Officers responded, ran the van’s plate and discovered it was the stolen vehicle, according to police. All seven dogs were inside the van and appeared to be fine.

Authorities are waiting for the owners and Animal Care and Control to respond to the scene, police said.

Two armed men stole the van about 3:50 p.m. in the 800 block of West Superior and pointed a gun at someone who tried to stop them, police said.

Joseph Giannini, owner of Urban Out Sitters, said a driver was getting ready to take the dogs home when one of the armed men approached and told him to get out of the van. He complied and the men drove away.

“Fifteen years in business and this is probably the most devastating thing I’ve had to deal with,” Giannini said.

Giannini added that because the van was not marked with the company’s logo, he thinks the carjackers just wanted the vehicle and were not targeting the dogs.

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