Three people were carjacked at gunpoint within about 40 minutes late Tuesday in the Lake View and Lincoln Square neighborhoods.
In each attack, the carjackers used one or two cars to box in the victims’ cars, and several approached the victims armed with handguns, according to Chicago police.
About 11:30 p.m., four to six people forced a man out of his car and stole his vehicle in the 4400 block of North Lincoln Avenue, police said.
Twenty minutes later, a 29-year-old man was driving in the 900 block of West Grace Street when two cars cut him off. The man got out of his car and ran away as several gunmen approached his car and drove away in it, police said.
Less than 10 minutes later, a 25-year-old woman was parking her car in the 3500 block of North Clark Street when two cars blocked her car, police said.
A few gunmen walked up to the car, forced out the driver, struck her female passenger and took her belongings, police said. The passenger declined medical attention.
No one was in custody.
The three carjackings happened in the Town Hall police district, where car thefts have risen by almost 60% in the last year, according to police data.
In the last two years, carjackings have skyrocketed by roughly 200% in that police district.
Those numbers nearly mirror citywide statistics. Carjackings have increased by about 50% across Chicago in the last year and by close to 200% in the last two years.
