Overnight in Logan Square, a routine rideshare shift turned into a gunpoint carjacking when three men robbed a 54-year-old driver and took off in his SUV, according to Chicago police. The men allegedly climbed into his vehicle, stole his belongings, ordered him out, and sped away. Police said the driver was not physically hurt, and detectives have launched an investigation into the early-morning holdup.
Officers told CBS Chicago the robbery unfolded between about 2:45 a.m. and 3 a.m. in the 2100 block of West Walnut Street. The crew reportedly got into the victim's white Nissan SUV, forced him from the vehicle, then took off in the stolen car while area detectives began canvassing the neighborhood for witnesses and surveillance footage.
Not long after, a white SUV that appeared similar was reported in an attempted armed robbery around 3:40 a.m. on the Near West Side, where two men tried to rob a business and ran off in a white SUV, CBS Chicago reported. Police have not confirmed whether the two incidents are connected, the outlet noted, and no one was injured in the attempted robbery.
Citywide Pattern and Recent Data
The Logan Square carjacking fits into a broader pattern of robberies and vehicle thefts that have kept Chicago officials on edge. Reporting from WBEZ notes that while carjackings have dipped from their peaks during the pandemic years, robberies surged in 2023, and stolen vehicles are often used to move between crime scenes. Local authorities say task forces and interagency coordination have helped improve recovery rates for stolen cars, even as overnight crews continue to target drivers across the city.
Police Response and Safety Tools
Chicago police have turned to specialized task forces to go after vehicular hijacking crews, a strategy that has been credited with bringing some carjacking numbers down even as more opportunistic thefts remain a problem, Fox 32 reported. Rideshare companies, for their part, offer in-app safety features such as an emergency button, trip-sharing options, and audio recording tools that drivers can activate if they feel unsafe, according to Uber.
Police are urging anyone who may have information or relevant surveillance footage from the area to contact area detectives as the investigation continues. This story will be updated as more details are released.
