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player ready...Two people were arrested and another was being sought after three armed suspects allegedly hijacked two different cars Wednesday and Thursday in Waukegan, according to police.
Neither of the incidents resulted in injury, although guns were displayed to the victims in each hijacking, according to Waukegan police Cmdr. Joe Florip.
Florip said that at approximately 9 p.m. Wednesday, officers from the department’s patrol division were dispatched to the 1600 block of Berwick Boulevard for a reported vehicular hijacking. On arrival, the officers spoke with a woman who stated her car was taken from her at gunpoint by two men and a woman.
The woman, in her 20s, told police one of the male subjects had a gun as the three approached her car and took it by threat of force, Florip said.
The stolen vehicle was a white 2011 Chevrolet Equinox. The Waukegan Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division was called in to investigate.
Then on Thursday at about 6:15 p.m., patrol officers were dispatched to the 2000 block of Western Avenue for another vehicular hijacking, according to Florip.
Florip said officers spoke with the victim, a male in his 50s, who said two men and one woman, all reportedly armed, approached his Honda CRV and took the vehicle through the threat of force.
According to police reports, two of the three suspects drove off in the Honda CRV, but lost control of the vehicle, crashing it into a ditch. The third suspect then picked up the two suspects in the Equinox stolen the previous night and fled the area.
Officers located the Equinox and began a police pursuit, Florip said, and as the car fled, it struck a another vehicle on Green Bay Road and continued northbound. Florip added the driver of the vehicle that was struck was not injured.
Florip said that in the area of Green Bay Road and York House Road, the three suspects abandoned the Equinox and fled on foot. Patrol officers, with assistance from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and the Zion Police Department, established a perimeter of the area.
According to Florip, one of the male suspects went to a home in the 12000 block of Yorkhouse Road in Beach Park and told the homeowners that he was just involved in a car accident.
“The homeowners quickly realized something was not right and contacted the officers in the area,” Florip said in a statement. “The male suspect was taken into custody, inside the home, without any further incident.”
Florip added the female suspect was also located in the perimeter by officers and taken into custody without incident.
Officers also recovered ammunition and a 9 mm handgun that had been reported stolen from Wisconsin, Florip said.
The male suspect is a 17-year-old from Waukegan, according to police, and he has been charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking, armed robbery, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest.
The female suspect is also a juvenile, a 16-year-old from Waukegan, police said. She has been charged with two counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking, armed robbery, possession of a stolen firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm and resisting arrest.
According to Florip, both teens have been transferred to the Depke Juvenile Detention Center in Vernon Hills, while the third suspect is currently not in custody, and he is being sought as investigators continue to work the active case.
Waukegan Police Chief Wayne Walles said Friday morning he was “very proud” of Waukegan’s responding officers and the assisting agencies for apprehending two of the three suspects without any injuries.