By Rosemary Regina Sobol
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO — Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson helped capture three carjacking suspects Friday night on the West Side.
Johnson was already in the area on his way to a 9:30 p.m. press briefing in the Austin District when he and several other officers spotted a Lexus sedan that had been carjacked in Cicero speeding east through the district and gave chase, said Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
“We heard on the radio that there was a carjacking so the superintendent got involved and he and about 30 other units apprehended three people,” Guglielmi said.
After a brief pursuit and a collision, the Lexus was curbed at Quincy Street and Laramie Avenue, where the driver got out and fled on foot. Officers ran after him and placed him into custody.
Additionally, a woman and another man who were inside the Lexus were arrested. No charges have been filed yet, but they were being questioned by detectives Friday night, Guglielmi said.
Police are investigating if this carjacking was part of a recent pattern that involves luxury sports cars being stolen in the suburbs and being used in the city to commit shootings and robberies, Guglielmi said.
The incident happened as Johnson was on his way to brief the media on this weekend’s anti-violence missions at a mobile command center.