11-year-old arrested in connection with armed carjacking, described as ‘strong participant’ in other incidents

by BRIAN NADIG

An 11-year-old male, who reportedly was arrested in connection with an armed carjacking on the Far Northwest Side, is suspected to have been an active participant in several carjackings, according to Chicago police officials.

The suspect was taken into custody on Friday, Nov. 26, and that follows an arrest two weeks earlier for an incident in which he allegedly was inside a vehicle that had been reported stolen, officials said.

He is facing charges in connection with the Nov. 14 reported carjacking in the 4700 block of North Cumberland Avenue, according to a Chicago Tribune report.

In that incident, a woman reported that that she was approached by a man and a boy as she was walking into a store and that the man demanded her car keys and pointed a gun at her, according to police. They drove off with her 2021 BMW 2021, which was later recovered, police said.

The suspect is being investigated in connection with several carjacking incidents, police said.

“He’s … definitely a strong participant in all of these events,” chief of detectives Brendan Deenihan said.

Police have made 1,292 carjacking-related arrests so far this year out of 1,635 reported incidents, Superintendent David Brown said. In most of the arrests, the suspects were charged with possession of a reported stolen automobile or criminal trespass to a vehicle.