Chicago police investigate whether teens involved in series of carjackings, sources say
CHICAGO (CBS) – Three teens were all charged with felony attempted armed robbery in an incident in South Austin, as we first told you on Monday.
Now we're learning the teens could be involved in more crimes. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot learned more about what detectives are looking into.
Police sources said detectives have been showing photos of the suspects to witnesses in at least 20 carjackings, to see if the teens are responsible for those crimes.
Police said Jeremiah Brown, 18, was with three other teens early Monday morning on the 4700 block of West Arthington in South Austin. Police sources said they were in a stolen Kia when one of the teens tried to rob a man at gunpoint who was sitting in his work truck.
The teen demanded the man hand over his belongings.
The man, 56, a concealed carry license holder, grabbed the extended magazine of the gun and a struggle ensued. Then, the man saw two other teens coming toward his truck. That's when the concealed carry license holder pulled out his gun and fired several shots.
A teen behind the wheel of the Kia tried to drive away but crashed the car. The 16-year-old driver was shot in the head. An 18-year-old was shot in the shoulder and a 15-year-old was shot in the arm.
Police sources said detectives are looking into whether the teens are part of a carjacking crew lined to at least 20 carjackings across the city.
Derek Brown is the founder of Boxing out Negativity, the West Side organization is dedicated to giving teens a positive outlet through athletics, instead of living a life of crime. Many in Brown's program recognized Jeremiah Brown, no relation to Derek Brown, from the neighborhood.
"We deal with these types of young men on a day-to-day basis," Derek Brown said. "They're just probably, I'm just looking at it from my point of view when I was that age, doing it just to have something to do."
Three of the teens were charged with armed robbery. The fourth teen is still in the hospital and hasn't been charged.