Two Chicago men face criminal charges in connection with the theft Wednesday of a Wilmette resident’s car, after detectives engaged in what a police official called “good detective work.”
Charles Mcferren, 33, of the 6700 block of South Paxton Avenue in Chicago, and Daquan Washington, 21, of the 1700 block of East 68th Street in Chicago, are both charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.
The two appeared in Cook County court in Skokie on Friday, Wilmette police said. They are being held at the Cook County Correctional Center on bonds of $30,000 and $50,000 respectively, and are scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 2, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
Wilmette detectives arrested Mcferren and Washington on South Lake Shore Drive after spotting them in the stolen car on Chicago’s South Side, Wilmette police reported Friday.
The case began shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday, when a resident of the 2400 block of Kenilworth Avenue told police that someone stole his 2013 Ford Explorer sometime overnight.
Wilmette Police Cmdr. Patrick Collins said detectives investigating the case went to Chicago, checking the addresses of people they considered suspects in earlier automobile-related crimes, including an Aug. 3 attempted car theft in which the would-be thieves hit a garage with the auto, before running away.
They spotted the car on the 7500 block of South Yates Boulevard and followed it to the 5700 block of South Lake Shore Drive, before stopping the car with the help of Chicago police, police said. Collins said Mcferren was driving the Explorer, while Washington had the vehicle’s key fob in his pocket.
“They were looking at addresses connected with suspects in earlier incidents, and they got a little lucky,” Collins said. “It was good detective work.”
Collins said the arrest Thursday was not connected with the Aug. 3 car theft attempt.
Wilmette police said the Explorer had been left unlocked, with its key fob inside.
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Police Chief Brian King said the Explorer theft continued a pattern of overnight auto thefts “in which the cars are unlocked and the keys are left in the vehicle.”
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