Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times
A ride-share driver carjacked at gunpoint Sunday by his passenger in Wicker Park said carjackings have “gotten out of hand.”
Police said he was carjacked in the 1700 block of West Lemoyne Street by a rider who took out a gun and stole his car.
“It’s as easy as stealing candy from a kid just pointing a gun to someone’s head and taking their car,” Allen Suchkou said. “Something has to get done.”
Police warned residents in the neighborhood of six other carjackings targeting ride-share drivers since late December.
Supt. David Brown announced a series of measures Thursday aimed to slow the surge in carjackings across the city.
Lori Lightfoot, then chair of the Police Board, chaired the Task Force on Police Accountability that announced its findings in April 2016. Among other things, the task force recommended that anyone arrested by Chicago police be informed of their right to be represented by free legal counsel and allowed to make a “reasonable number of phone calls” to attorneys and family members “within one hour of arrival” at the place where they are being held. But one alderman said Monday that Lightfoot appears to be backing away from that standard.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration was accused Monday of attempting to water down a pivotal criminal justice reform recommended by the Task Force on Police Accountability she co-chaired after the police shooting of Laquan McDonald.