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Could Recent Carjackings In Lakeview, Bucktown Be Connected?

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A possible link has been discovered to a string of carjackings from Lakeview to Bucktown.

In one incident, a man got shot.

As CBS 2's Jermont Terry reported Wednesday night, police have emphasized a message to stay alert – especially if you're parking on the street or pulling into a gated lot or garage.

There is at least one carjacking crew wreaking havoc in Bucktown, and beyond.

One of the most recent incidents happened not in Bucktown, but in the southwest corner of Lakeview – in the 1400 block of West Wolfram Street near Southport Avenue and Diversey Parkway.

Video shows that carjacking Monday night. A woman was trying to park her red four-door Audi when she was targeted for her car.

Surveillance video only caught a portion of the incident as out of sight, the car was stolen at gunpoint.

That began what is believed to be a series of carjackings.

While the woman in the Lakeview incident was safe, there was another attempted in a carjacking hours later early Tuesday morning in Bucktown. And it happened that the suspects pulled up in a red Audi just like the one that was stolen on Wolfram Street.

Two men jumped out of the Audi and tried to steal a Porsche as a mother and daughter pulled into their driveway. When the husband walked out, they shot him and jumped back in the same red Audi.

Add that to the other carjackings last weekend, all on the North or Near Northwest sides. In one of them – also in the Wicker Park-Bucktown area – a woman reversed and got out of the way of the gunmen in the nick of time.

"There is a huge spike in carjackings this year," said Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan.

We are talking about a 120 percent spike. In 2019, Chicago saw a total of 516 carjackings, and with December still ahead of us, 2020 has already seen 1,145 cases and growing.

As for the man shot in that attempted carjacking, his family said he had surgery on Wednesday and should recover.

Chicago Police cannot say just how many carjacking crews are involved in all of these incidents.

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