Illinois State Police Made 3 Hijacked Vehicle Arrests In 3 Months

SPRINGFIELD, IL — State police announced they made three carjacking arrests during the second quarter of the year.

Meanwhile, from July to September, Illinois State Police conducted 59 missions targeting stolen or carjacked vehicles, recovered 290 stolen or carjacked vehicles and arrested two dozen people on stolen vehicle charges. Nine guns were seized during that three-month period.

“To stop vehicle theft and hijacking crimes, the Illinois State Police utilizes increased patrol presence, air operations support, automated license plate readers, investigations, and forensic services,” said Brendan Kelly, the director of Illinois State Police.

ISP representatives said they are targeting carjackers, car thieves and related violent crimes with the help of a $10 million grant from the Illinois Vehicle Hijacking and Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention and Insurance Verification Council, or IVHMVTPIV Council. The 11-member coalition of insurance company representatives, state's attorneys and law enforcement officers, founded in 1991 and overseen by the Illinois Secretary of State's Office.

State police highlighted recent anti-carjacking efforts, including a July 15 incident where state police tried to pull over a hijacked car on Interstate 294 at Lake Cook Road whose driver later carjacked someone else in Northbrook before being taken into custody, an August incident that resulted in the arrest of a child and the recovery of a pair of loaded guns following a crash in Chicago's South Loop and multiple occasions where automated license plate readers and state police aircraft helped track down stolen cars that later crashed.