Chicago Reports 52 Carjackings In First 8 Days Of August, Multiple Incidents Around City In Just Past Few Days

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A total of 967 carjackings have been reported this year through early August.

As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported, there were 52 carjackings in Chicago in just the first eight days of this month, according to the latest numbers we have. Chicago Police detectives are investigating carjackings from Old Town to Wicker Park and Roseland in just the past 24 hours.

In the incident in Roseland on Monday, a 75-year-old man was hit in the head and carjacked by two men in the 11200 block of South Vernon Avenue just after 5 a.m.

We found Chicago Police following up at the scene Monday afternoon, but no witnesses.

We're told the victim in the Roseland incident was taken to the hospital, but was OK. Police would not say if the cameras on the street caught any of it.

Hours earlier, police said two men held a rideshare driver at gunpoint just before 2:40 a.m. Monday in the 1500 block of North Damen Avenue in Wicker Park, near the Damen Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line stop.

They took the man's 2018 Hyundai sedan, while a third took off in a black car.

And Sunday night, there was another carjacking in the 1400 block of North Sedgwick Street in Old Town. Police said a group of three to five men surrounded a white car around 9:15 p.m., punching the man behind the wheel one of them holding a gun to his head before getting in his car and taking off.

Chicago Police issued warnings last week, as we mapped out the number of carjackings reported - including one in Bucktown that we continue to follow closely. The victim of that carjacking was a woman named Mar.

"I think the message is, you can never be safe. Ever," Mar said last week.

Mar, whose last name is not being used, was carjacked in the middle of the day on Aug. 9, while inside her garage. Police tracked down two young men in her car last week – Mar said one ran away and wasn't chased and was never brought in.

The other suspect, just 15 years old, is facing possession of a stolen motor vehicle charges. A spokesperson for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office said they're working with CPD to "determine if there is evidence to pursue any additional charges related to the vehicular hijacking of this victim's vehicle."

The 15-year-old was due for a hearing in Juvenile Court Monday, but it was rescheduled for this coming Thursday. Molina is told that is when the judge will decide whether to keep him in custody.

"I get it that they're young, but they're also bold enough to put a gun to my head," Mar said last week

We are told Area Two and Area detectives are investigating the most recent carjackings, but no one is in custody.

Chicago carjackings month-by-month since 2018:

In:
• Bucktown
• Wicker Park
• Chicago Police Department
• Roseland