Two South Side teens are facing serious time after Chicago police say they pulled a gun on a 63-year-old man and stole his car, only to be tracked down in less than a day in the South Shore neighborhood.
Officers arrested an 18-year-old man, identified as Allen Johnson, and a 16-year-old boy on Thursday, according to authorities. Investigators say the pair was picked up in South Shore under 24 hours after the reported hijacking, a turnaround that police are holding up as another quick win in their citywide push on carjackings.
Police told FOX 32 Chicago that Johnson and the 16-year-old allegedly took the victim’s vehicle at gunpoint in the 7900 block of South Jeffery Boulevard. The suspects were later arrested in the 2300 block of East 79th Street in South Shore. Johnson is charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm, aggravated vehicular hijacking with a weapon, and armed robbery, while the juvenile faces counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm and aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon in a vehicle by a person under 21, police said.
How detectives say they closed in
The Chicago Police Department credited its Citywide Robbery Task Force with zeroing in on the suspects and making the arrests in under 24 hours. As described by the Chicago Police Department, the task force leans on coordinated patrols, surveillance tools, and cross-district teamwork to track stolen vehicles and identify suspected offenders. Detectives say those same tactics were put to work here.
Charges and legal stakes
Under Illinois law, aggravated vehicular hijacking is a Class X felony, one of the state’s most serious categories. Penalties increase when the victim is 60 or older, which can raise the possible sentence. According to the Illinois Compiled Statutes, the charges Johnson faces carry lengthy potential prison terms. The Juvenile Court Act also allows prosecutors to seek adult court treatment for minors accused of firearm-enhanced hijacking, under 705 ILCS 405 §5-130. Those statutory options frame how prosecutors and judges may handle both defendants as the cases proceed.
Johnson was scheduled to appear in court for a detention hearing on Friday. Police have not released additional information about the 63-year-old victim’s condition, according to FOX 32 Chicago. The 16-year-old’s case is currently moving through juvenile channels, though prosecutors could seek to transfer him to adult court under the statutes cited.
Officials say the arrests highlight the department’s ongoing push against vehicle hijackings and armed robberies this year, anchored by the Robbery Task Force’s coordinated operations. In recent public updates, the Chicago Police Department has pointed to similar multi-district crackdowns as key to quickly identifying suspects and clearing patterns of citywide robberies and carjackings.
