Chicago police say a 17-year-old is now in custody in connection with a summer carjacking that left another teenager staring down the wrong end of a gun on the Far South Side.
According to investigators, a 16-year-old boy was robbed at gunpoint on July 25 and had personal items, including a vehicle, taken during the encounter.
Police say the 17-year-old was arrested Tuesday in the 11000 block of South Vernon Avenue in Roseland and has been charged with armed robbery, aggravated vehicular hijacking involving a firearm and aggravated unlawful restraint, according to FOX 32 Chicago. Detectives told reporters they identified him as the person involved in the July 25 incident in the 5500 block of South Morgan Street, but they have not publicly explained how they tied him to the case. The charges are allegations, and the juvenile is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Broader context
Chicago has made vehicular hijackings a top investigative priority in recent years, using multi-district task forces to target carjacking crews while also fielding questions about arrest rates and court outcomes, the Chicago Sun-Times reporting has noted. City officials and police task forces continue to treat carjackings as a high-visibility problem, even as some of the key numbers bounce around from year to year…