Stolen BMW Used In Violent Vehicular Hijacking Found: Sheriff

LIBERTYVILLE, IL — The Lake County Sheriff's Office has found the stolen BMW used as a getaway vehicle in a violent vehicular hijacking in Libertyville last month.

The stolen white BMW was found in Waukegan and evidence technicians are processing the vehicle for fingerprints and DNA, which have been sent to a state crime lab for analysis, authorities said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, authorities are still searching for the suspects accused of targeting Taylor Shepherd, a 34-year-old pregnant Libertyville woman, at about 3:35 p.m. on Feb. 22, and stealing her 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. Police say Shepherd pulled into her driveway in the 16000 block of Route 137 and was about to get her 2-year-old son out of the car when the BMW pulled into her driveway behind her.

A man, who is described as being tall, thin and wearing a gray zip-up hooded sweatshirt and light green face mask, got out of the BMW and tried to get into the Volkswagen. The man is accused of beating Shepherd while she tried to protect her son, knocking her to the ground, then fleeing with her son still in the car.

The woman was run over when the BMW and Volkswagen fled the scene.

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 incident remains under investigation, authorities said.

A GoFundMe fundraiser set up to support Shepherd and her family as she recovers following the incident has brought in more than $76,000 as of Wednesday morning. Shepherd, who is five months pregnant, has had to undergo surgeries after she suffered broken bones in the attack. Her unborn child was not harmed and is healthy, according to authorities.

Donations can be made via GoFundMe.

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