2 Daylight Carjackings In 2 Days Target Evanstonians At Homes

EVANSTON, IL — Two Evanston residents were carjacked outside their homes during daylight hours this week by young men who implied they were carrying handguns, police said.

In the first incident, a 50-year-old Evanston man told officers he had been sitting in his Volvo shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday near Judson Avenue and South Boulevard when a man in his late teens or early 20s wearing a black face mask and black hoodie walked up his car, according to police.

"Get the f--- out," the masked man told the resident, gesturing to his waistband and suggesting that he was carrying a gun, police reported.

The resident got out of the car, leaving the engine running. His attacker then got in and drove away south on Judson Avenue before turning east on South Boulevard, police were told. But the carjacker left the key fob behind.

"At some point, if he had turned the car off, he wouldn't have been able to restart it," Cmdr. Ryan Glew said.

About six hours later, Chicago police were dispatched to a report of a crash on 83rd Street on the city's South Side. They found the stolen Volvo crashed and abandoned.

Less than 18 hours after that, another carjacking was reported about three blocks north of the first one.

In the second incident, a 74-year-old Evanston woman was unloading groceries from her car while parked behind her building in an alley near the intersection of Main Street and Judson Avenue when a carjacker came up to her from behind, she told officers.

The woman felt a hard object in her back and heard a male voice tell her to give him her money and car keys, police reported. She handed over $100 in cash and the keys to her Honda SUV, and the man drove away west down the alley. As of Friday, police had yet to locate the vehicle.

Police reported the woman described the carjacker as a black man in his 20s, 5 feet, 6 or 7 inches tall, weighing 160 pounds, wearing a black face mask and a dark-colored hoodie.

In both cases, the carjackers never displayed guns.

In the first nine months of 2021, robberies in Evanston are up by more than 48.5 percent compared to the prior year, with 17 more this year, according to statistics compiled by police. Car thefts are up by 50 percent, with 24 more in 2021 than in 2020.

A daylight carjacking in Evanston is "not a common thing that occurs," Glew told Patch, advising residents to remain aware of what is going on around them.

"Be alert, be vigilant of your surroundings," he said. "If something appears to be suspicious, avoid that circumstance. And if necessary, call the police."