Homewood Carjacking Victim: 'I Thought It Would Never Happen To Me'

HOMEWOOD, IL — A Homewood couple is grateful this week to have their dog and car back after a terrifying ordeal with an armed man a week ago.

Kevin and Mary Beth O'Donnell were at Millennium Park in Homewood the evening of Sept. 30, when a man got into the driver's seat of Kevin's car, pointed a gun in his face and demanded he get out, before driving away with the car—and the couple's dog in the backseat.

The dog was found hours later outside a house in Park Forest. The car was discovered two days later in Joliet, with minimal damage.

The O'Donnells know how lucky they were to get their beloved 11-month-old golden retriever back that night, unharmed, but Kevin O'Donnell also realizes fortune was also in his favor.

"We’re still a little shaken," O'Donnell told Patch, noting that the event made him more aware of his surroundings, and wanting to remind others in his community to do the same.

At the time of the carjacking, O'Donnell was outside his vehicle with his wife outside hers, transferring items from one car into another. The suspect flashed a gun in his face before backing up the car and nearly running over Kevin O'Donnell in the process, he told Patch. The car was found likely only because the thieves tried to use a key to their other Subaru car rather than to the Forester they had stolen, and it triggered the alarm.

The carjacking has left them feeling more vulnerable, and they want others to know it could happen to anyone. The south suburbs have seen a number of carjackings and thefts in recent months, but those cars targeted have been specifically Kia and Hyundai vehicles.

"I’m not wishing that people should become paranoid," O'Donnell told Patch.

O'Donnell reminds others to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings. He also recommends that people not keep all keys on one ring, and keep registration or other identifying info with addresses out of the glove box.

"If the car can’t be tracked, because it doesn’t have the technology to do so, I would consider putting a tracking device within those vehicles," O'Donnell said. "I guess this is something I never really had to consider, because I never thought it would happen to me, especially in a neighborhood park where dozens of people are within close proximity of the event."

O'Donnell said he will be more aware moving forward.

"I thought it would never happen to me—big mistake in judgement," he said. "But I have to tell you, I came close to either being shot, or run over (or both), and losing our Cooper forever."