A stolen Lincoln plowed into a marked Chicago police squad car and three other vehicles on a popular Loop shopping stretch Tuesday afternoon, sending two occupants fleeing on foot from the wreckage before officers quickly took them into custody. No one was hurt in the crash, but police recovered a handgun from inside the car, and charges remain pending.
According to NBC 5 Chicago, officers responded around 4:10 p.m. to a report of a vehicular hijacking on Randolph Street in the Loop. Police spotted the stolen Lincoln traveling westbound on Randolph shortly afterward. Near North State Street and East Randolph Street, the Lincoln struck a marked CPD squad car, a Ford, and two parked vehicles.
The two people inside the Lincoln fled on foot after the crash but were quickly taken into custody, the outlet reported. Police said no one was injured in the collision, and a handgun was recovered from inside the stolen car. Authorities said charges are still pending.
Crash Aftermath Snarled a Prime Tourist Block
The wreckage came to rest right outside Block 37, the shopping center at 8 N. State St., just steps from the James M. Nederlander Theatre at 24 W. Randolph St. — a downtown location near shopping and theater destinations.
It's not the first time a stolen vehicle has torn through this exact corner of the Loop. A separate incident described by ABC7 Chicago detailed a hit-and-run near the same Randolph and State intersection, in which a silver sedan heading westbound struck a black sedan before jumping the curb onto the sidewalk. In that case, a 36-year-old woman walking nearby was struck and suffered injuries to her hips and lower back; she was taken to Northwestern Hospital in fair condition while the sedan's driver fled the scene. That incident is separate from Tuesday's crash, and police have not said no one was hurt in both the same way.
Auto Theft Numbers Paint a Mixed Picture
Reported motor vehicle theft in the city rose 8% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a mid-year report from the Council on Criminal Justice, which examined crime data from Chicago and 35 other American cities between 2018 and June 2026.
A separate analysis by CBS News Chicago of Chicago Police data found overall motor vehicle thefts actually dropped 27% in 2024, falling from 31,565 reported thefts in 2023 to 23,135 the following year.
That same CBS analysis flagged a narrower concern: thieves increasingly targeting specific makes. Lexus thefts jumped 155% year over year in 2024, with more than 400 vehicles stolen, while Jeep thefts climbed 28%, with roughly 1,700 taken. Those shifts don't tie directly to Tuesday's stolen Lincoln, but they underscore how auto theft patterns in Chicago have moved even as the headline numbers have improved.
Vehicle pursuits involving stolen cars have carried real risk elsewhere in the city this year. A police chase of a suspected stolen car on the North Side last month led to multiple crashes in Rogers Park that injured four people, including two officers, according to Fox 32 Chicago. Tuesday's Loop crash, by contrast, ended without any reported injuries, even as it damaged four vehicles on one of downtown's busiest blocks.
