Arrests reported in recent carjacking and Aug. 7 sexual assault in Jefferson Park on Chicago’s NW Side; incidents occurred at or near CTA terminal
by BRIAN NADIG
In separate incidents in the Jefferson Park area, suspects have been charged in connection with a reported carjacking this month and with a reported sexual assault in 2022, according to Chicago police.
A man was arrested Friday afternoon, March 17, after he allegedly carjacked a woman’s vehicle near Milwaukee and Higgins avenues but could not start the car and fled to the nearby Jefferson Park CTA Terminal at 4917 N. Milwaukee Ave., according to Chicago police.
The woman reported that she was sitting in her car in a parking lot in the 4800 block of North Milwaukee Avenue when a man approached and demanded her car, according to police. The man reportedly attempted to flee in the car but was unable start the engine and then fled on foot toward the CTA terminal, police said.
Responding officers boarded a train at a nearby station and apprehended the suspect, police said. The man allegedly resisted being arrested, and several officers were injured, police said.
The suspect, who was identified by police as Andrew Moran, age 25, of the 5300 block of West Leland Avenue, was charged with a felony count of vehicular hijacking, three felony counts of aggravated battery involving a peace officer and four misdemeanor counts of resisting/obstructing a peace officer, police said.
In a separate incident, a man was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery in a public place in connection with a Sunday, Aug. 7, incident on the Blue Line, police said. The man has been in custody since Aug. 7, and charges related to the assault were filed on Wednesday, March 15, following an investigation, police said.
A teen reported that at about 4:20 a.m. Aug. 7 a man assaulted her while she was on the Blue Line, and a short time later at the Jefferson Park terminal responding officers confronted the man, who was arrested after he allegedly resisted arrest, police said.
At the time charges were filed against the man in connection with the resisting.
The teen told police that the man first confronted her on the train earlier in the night but that she exited and returned a few hours later, according to police. The man was on the train upon her return, and that is when the assault occurred, police said.
CTA surveillance cameras captured the incident, according to a published report by CWB Chicago news outlet.
The suspect was identified by police as Deandre D. Taylor, age 32.
In the 16th (Jefferson Park) Police District in 2023, serious crime is up 49 percent, from 334 to 497 incidents, when compared to the same period in 2022. Car and catalytic converter thefts continue to fuel much of the increase.
