Bensenville man sentenced for 2021 carjacking of woman with children in backseat
VILLA PARK, Ill. (CBS) – One of the men charged with carjacking a woman and two children in Villa Park in 2021 has been sentenced to nearly two decades in prison, the DuPage County State's Attorney's office announced Wednesday.
Luis Gomez-Garcia, 30, formerly of Bensenville, plead guilty to one count of aggravated kidnapping.
On Oct. 8, 2021, Villa Park Police officers responded to a call of an aggravated carjacking that occurred in the parking lot of a shopping mall, located at 270 W. North Ave.
Around 4:48 p.m., the victim and her children, ages five and 10, exited the mall and entered her vehicle when about a minute later Gomez-Garcia approached the vehicle, put a knife to the woman's throat, and told the victim to move to the front passenger seat, the office said.
It is alleged that as the victim moved over, a second man, Christopher Krieg, 34, of Carol Stream, entered the rear passenger area of the vehicle with the victim's children.
Gomez-Garcia took the victim's property - including her iPhone 11, Apple Watch, and wallet, the office said.
The victim was ordered to drive to her house but instead drove to a different location where she and her children were released from the vehicle. After threatening the victim to not contact police, the two men then fled in the victim's vehicle.
Later that evening, the men were later located with the vehicle, in the 2900 block of West Harrison Street around 7:21 p.m. Both men, armed with a knife, were taken into custody.
"The shockingly violent conduct that Mr. Gomez-Garcia pled guilty to this morning, which is also alleged against his co-defendant, is simply horrifying," said DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin. "I cannot begin to imagine the heart-stopping fear and terror this woman and her two young children were forced to endure while Mr. Gomez-Garcia held a knife to her throat and Mr. Krieg was allegedly in the back seat with the children. Thankfully neither the woman nor her children were physically harmed during this alleged incident."
Gomez-Garcia has been sentenced to 19 years in prison.
The case against Krieg is still pending with a next court date of March 10.