Four teenage boys charged with carjacking in South Loop

CHICAGO - Four teenage boys are facing charges in connection with a carjacking in the South Loop last week.

Three 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old are each charged with one misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to a vehicle, Chicago police said. One of the 17-year-olds is also charged with a felony count of possession of a stolen vehicle and a misdemeanor count of possession of cannabis.

On Dec. 22, officers were called for a BMW driver carjacked by four males about 11:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of South Indiana Avenue, police said. The suspects allegedly hit the 60-year-old male victim in the nose with the butt of a gun.

Officers later located the car about 2:30 a.m. Dec. 23 in the 4700 block of West Augusta Boulevard in Humboldt Park, police said. Four males ran from the BMW but were taken into custody a short time later.

Police have responded to at least 1,335 carjackings so far this year — more than double the number of carjackings in all of 2019, according to police data.

In one of the most notorious cases, retired firefighter Dwain Williams was shot and killed during a carjacking in Morgan Park in early December.