No Arrests Yet In Libertyville Vehicular Hijacking: Police

LIBERTYVILLE, IL — Police in Lake County are continuing to investigate a violent vehicular hijacking that happened in Libertyville in February, authorities told Patch Thursday.

Investigators have developed suspects in the case but no arrests warrants have been issued, yet, and no one is in custody, Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli told Patch in an email response Thursday.

On Feb. 22, the sheriff's office responded to a home in the 16000 block of Route 137 after a 34-year-old pregnant woman was beaten by a man who tried to get into her 2021 Volkswagen Atlas while her 2-year-old son was still in the back. While she tried to protect her son, the man knocked her to the ground and fled with her son still in the car.

The 2-year-old boy was abandoned a short time later in a parking lot at a business in the 2200 block of Lakeside Drive in Waukegan by the suspect, according to authorities. The child was not injured and was reunited with his family a short time later.

On Thursday, Covelli said authorities were not releasing any more information regarding the suspects or developments in the case as it remains under investigation.

• $53K Raised For Family Of Pregnant Mom Beaten, Ran Over
• Family Of Beaten Woman Paid $150 To Reactivate Tracking Service: Cops
• Stolen BMW Used In Violent Vehicular Hijacking Found: Sheriff

Following the incident, Taylor Shepherd, the Libertyville mother beaten while protecting her son, spent several months in the trauma center at the hospital. She underwent an eight-hour surgery and was "fully non-weight bearing on the left side of her body due to shattered elbow, hip, pelvis and tailbone along with detached vertebrae," according to the GoFundMe set up to help raise money for her family while she recovers from her injuries.

The GoFundMe, set up by neighbors living in the North Libertyville Estates neighborhood, has brought in more than $80,000 as of Thursday.

Shepherd was five months pregnant at the time of the incident, and she wrote in a March 20 update, which was posted on the GoFundMe, that her baby was going to be OK. At the time, she was using a walker and wheelchair to get around.

"Every day I remind myself that my bones and body will heal, and that it truly is a miracle that my baby and I are alive. I never would've thought that at 34 years old and pregnant with my third baby that I would be getting around my house in a wheelchair and asking my loved ones for constant help," she wrote. "This has been a truly humbling experience and I look forward to so many things like holding my baby, changing my baby’s diaper, cooking my family a meal and cleaning up my children's toys; all the things in the day-to-day life that we normally take for granted, I can't wait to do those things again with a grateful heart. The fact that I get the opportunity to live, to heal, that the miracle inside of me continues to grow and give me unbelievable strength."

• Those wishing to donate to Taylor and her family can do so here.