Teen Steals Vehicle With 88-Year-Old Woman in Back Seat: Police

PARK RIDGE, IL - A 14-year-old boy got an unlikely surprise Wednesday night when he learned the car he had just stolen had an 88-year-old woman in the back seat.

The boy now faces an aggravated vehicular hijacking charge after police said he stole a vehicle parked outside a business at 901 Touhy Ave. in Park Ridge. A family member had left the elderly woman in the back seat of the vehicle to enter a store for a quick purchase, according to a village of Park Ridge press release.

That was when the boy jumped into the car and drove away, police said. The teen dropped the woman at her home before driving away, police said.

Park Ridge police sent an alert regarding the stolen vehicle to area law enforcement agencies. Based on several motor vehicle theft arrests from the past week, Park Ridge police investigators worked several leads, including one that lead them to the area of Belmont and Harlem in Chicago.

Park Ridge police investigators in an unmarked squad car maintained surveillance and sought assistance to stop the vehicle with marked squads, according to the news release. Ultimately, officers from the Chicago Police Department stopped the car without incident in the 4800 block of N. Austin, according to the news release.

During the traffic stop, a Park Ridge police officer was involved in a minor crash with another vehicle while responding to the area. He was taken to Resurrection Hospital and has since been release. The driver of the other vehicle was cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and a passenger in the vehicle was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

The Chicago Police Department investigated the crash and the department will conduct a routine, administrative review of the crash as it does with all officer-involved motor vehicle crashes, according to the news release.