Bridgeport Woman Says She Was Carjacked By Same Crew That Struck Again Minutes Later A Block Away And Was Caught On Video
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Video this week showed a woman being carjacked in broad daylight on a residential block in Bridgeport, and now another victim has reached out to us because of it.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported Friday, Lisa Montesano said the same crew was moving fast and had hit her just minutes before.
Montesano, 68, said police were responding to take her report after she was carjacked, but officers had to leave to respond to the second carjacking that was caught on camera.
She cannot bring herself to watch the video of that second carjacking and hear the woman's screams.
"I'm still not OK," Montesano said.
The reason, of course, is that she herself lived the same horror just minutes earlier and a block away.
"As soon as I saw him, I knew he was going to attack me," Montesano said.
She tried to run.
"He threw me to the ground," Montesano said, "and I hit my head and twisted mg right leg."
She was on the ground with keys in hand.
"He was on top of me, and he said, 'Don't move,'" Montesano said.
Still in pain now, Montesano's family reached out to CBS 2 after seeing the video of the second carjacking. They said the crew of three young men in a blue Mercedes who carjacked a 40-year-old woman at gunpoint in the 600 block of West 37th Street, near Lowe Avenue, had just carjacked Montesano too on the next block east.
Montesano said police got to the scene in minutes, and were taking her carjacking report when they have to leave to respond to the other carjacking.
"They came back to finish the report a while later," Montesano said.
Police said Montesano was carjacked at 2:34 p.m. Tuesday, and the 40-year-old woman at 3:10 p.m.
Police would not confirm the two incidents are connected, but mentioned that the offenders pulled up in a blue Mercedes-Benz in both incidents.
So far, 15 carjackings have been reported this year in Bridgeport – six more than last year. There have been a total of 1,658 carjackings in Chicago in 2021 as of Thursday, Dec. 2.
"They're not afraid," Montesano said.
That total figure drove Montesano, a lifelong Chicago resident, to speak out.
"I've never seen the city as bad as this is," she said.
Montesano is standing strong and sharing her experience, even though she's still too shaken even to think about getting back behind the wheel.
"We have to help one another," she said. "We have to watch out for one another."
The underage crew caught on camera in the second carjacking has been caught on camera. Two 17-year-old boys and a 14-year-old boy were charged with multiple counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking.
One of 17-year-olds was also charged with robbery and armed robbery, and he and the 14-year-old were also charged with criminal trespass to a vehicle. The other 17-year-old was also charged with receiving or possessing a stolen vehicle.
Again, police would not confirm the two carjackings are related.
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