Carjacking outside Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mansion thwarted by stick-shift car
A Chicagoan was carjacked just outside Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Chicago mansion. Chicago carjackings have more than doubled since 2019, with the attackers rarely caught.
A carjacking took place near Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Gold Coast mansion in Chicago, with two suspects fleeing after they couldn’t drive a stick-shift.
Then they carjacked another driver, leading to a rare Chicago carjacking arrest.
Chicago carjackings and motor vehicle thefts have exploded since 2019, apparently getting so bad the governor’s wealthy enclave is even being targeted. Across the city, carjackings are down from a year ago but still twice pre-pandemic numbers. Arrests rarely happen: of 1,307 Chicago carjackings in 2023, only 79 arrests were made.
The two men in custody were apprehended after a second carjacking on the Gold Coast when they were pursued by the city’s Vehicular Hijacking Task Force with support from the Illinois State Police and federal law enforcement.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson released his public safety plan in December. The “People’s Plan for Community Safety” calls for curbing crime through outreach and intervention with the “highest promise” youth and adults. The plan doesn’t specify how “highest promise” individuals will be identified or how they will be saved from a life of crime.
Addressing rising crime in Chicago starts with reducing the police officer shortage, providing adequate resources for judges determining whether to release or hold people ahead of trial, and ensuring witness protection so police are able to obtain vital information needed to identify and pursue criminals.
It continues with the city reforming and repairing its failing school system through school choice and educational diversity, as well as fostering job growth by getting city crime, taxation and regulation under control.
Counseling high-promise youth to eschew carjacking might be a longer, tougher route that leaves even Illinois’ governor uneasy whenever he leaves home.