Lyft Driver Carjacked At Gunpoint On West Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Lyft driver was carjacked at gunpoint Tuesday afternoon after picking up two passengers on the West Side.
Police said the 31-year-old man picked up two men for a ride shortly after 3 p.m. in the 2900 block of West Taylor Street, on the cusp of the East Garfield Park and North Lawndale neighborhoods, and during the ride, one of the passengers pulled out a gun and demanded the driver's property.
The two passengers then told the driver to get out of the car, and drove off in the vehicle.
The victim was not injured.
Area Four detectives are investigating.
The incident comes a day after an Uber Eats driver was carjacked on the West Side, and the carjackers later crashed on the Eisenhower Expressway after police began chasing the stolen vehicle.
The latest carjacking also comes one day after Chicago Police released surveillance video of the suspects who shot and killed retired Chicago Fire Lt. Dwain Williams during an attempted carjacking in Morgan Park last week.
Around 2 p.m. Thursday, Williams, 65, was leaving the Let's Get Poppin popcorn store at 11758 S. Western Ave. and was walking to his vehicle, when a four-door dark-colored sedan pulled up and four men got out and bum rushed him, according to Chicago Police Chief of Operations Brian McDermott.
The carjackers fired at Williams, and Williams returned fire. Police initially did not have a good look at the assailants, but the new video shows them storming out of another car as Williams walks up to his own.
An exchange of gunfire follows.
Three of the suspects are shown on the video, while the fourth was behind the wheel of the other stolen car, Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Brendan Deenihan said.
Two of the suspects seen in the video were wearing black pants, black hooded jackets and white gym shoes, and the third was wearing a blue hooded jacket, blue pants, and also white gym shoes.
Deenihan said the stolen car in which the suspects pulled up, a Ford Fusion, was recovered in Tinley Park. He said south suburban police departments have been working closely with Area Two detectives on the case.
Anyone with information was asked to call Area Two detectives at (312) 747-8271 or to make an anonymous tip to CPDTIP.com.
As of Sunday night, a reward for information leading to an arrest in Williams murder was up to $33,000 for information leading to an arrest.
The CBS 2 Investigators have been tracking the alarming trend as carjackings have skyrocketed in Chicago this year.
In 2019, Chicago saw a total of 516 carjackings, and as of late November, had already seen 1,145 cases and growing. That amounts to a spike of at least 120%.
