Men shoplift purses at Old Orchard Mall, crash getaway car, then carjack students
Skokie IL December 21 2018
Police chased after a group of men on Dec. 18 who stole purses from a store at a Skokie shopping mall, then crashed their stolen getaway car and ran to a nearby high school parking lot, where they carjacked a Jeep at gunpoint and left it, on fire, in a Chicago intersection, according to Skokie police.
The suspects have not been found, according to a Skokie Police Department press release.
The cascade of events started when police responded to a call about 12:57 p.m. Tuesday regarding a retail theft at Nordstrom, on the 4900 block of Old Orchard Center, according to the release.
A witness told police that five men carrying purses ran out of Nordstrom and into a silver Audi, a car that authorities determined had been reported stolen, according to the release. The driver crashed the Audi into another car on the west side of Old Orchard mall, after which the five men got out of the car and abandoned it, police said.
The men then ran west to a parking lot at nearby Niles North High School, in the 9800 block of Lawler Avenue, according to the release.
About 1:02 p.m., one of the men stole a Jeep at gunpoint from two students in the lot, police said, and the carjacker picked up the four other men and left the lot headed south. No one was injured, police said.
Police later found the Jeep abandoned and on fire near the intersection of Cicero and Peterson avenues in Chicago, according to the release.
The man who stole the Jeep at gunpoint was reportedly a bald black man in his 30s, from 6 to 6-foot, 5-inches tall, having a thin build and wearing a black coat, according to the release.
Anyone with information was asked to call the Skokie Police Department at (847) 982-5900 or the 24-hour Skokie crime tip hotline at (847) 933-8477.
Chicago Tribune
