Chicago youth sports coach carjacked while packing car for baseball practice
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man who has dedicated his life to helping young people through sports has now found himself victim to several young people – after they robbed him of his car.
The coach said he is now looking over his shoulder after he was carjacked just feet away from the place he has called home for nearly two decades.
"Success" is the key word in the dictionary for Ernest Radcliffe – a football and baseball coach to many across the city's South Side.
Coach Radcliffe talked with CBS 2's Jim Williams back in June 2021 about his personal mission – guiding young men to productive lives through sports. At the time, Radcliffe and his team were celebrating 12 baseball players who had received college scholarships.
Former President Barack Obama had stopped by a practice of Radcliffe's Southside Wolfpack football team earlier that same month in Jackson Park.
"I want to save every kid if I can. I want to take the kids they say are bad. I want to take the kids they say can't learn," Radcliffe said at the time. "I believe that once they get into a program and given the proper structure, then we can turn things around."
But nearly three years later, Radcliffe spoke to us again – this time talking to CBS 2's Darius Johnson in his home after being the victim of a carjacking.
"Saturday was a tough night," Radcliffe said.
The carjacking happened at 6:06 p.m. Saturday at 61st Street and Ellis Avenue in the Woodlawn neighborhood – near Radcliffe's home, and also near the University of Chicago's Renee Granville Grossman Residential Commons and other campus buildings located south of the Midway Plaisance.
Coach Radcliffe was packing up his vehicle for baseball practice with buckets, bats, and uniforms.
"A black Kia sport pulled up, and two guys jumped out - and there was nothing I could do. They carjacked me. They jumped out on me. I didn't see it coming. I didn't know what to do," he said. "I couldn't pray. It was just all in one – it just happened so quick."
Radcliffe said all happened in less than 30 seconds. At first, he was grateful his family wasn't present.
Radcliffe said he was also grateful "for my life, because I could've been shot."
His car has since been recovered.
"But, you know, they took a lot of stuff out the car – all my equipment; my bag - my red show bag with all my paperwork," Radcliffe said. "I was working on some projects, calendars."
What continues to replay in Radcliffe's mind is the fact that the carjackers were teens – the same ages as those he has guided for nearly three decades through sports.
"If any parent has a problem with their son or daughter, and they can't do anything for them, they can reach out to us - all the coaches around the city of Chicago that work with youth and put them in our programs - and we can probably help them become successful young men or young ladies," said Radcliffe.
Anyone who knows anything about this incident, or who can help Coach Radcliffe retrieve his stolen belongings, is asked to call Chicago Police.