Being carjacked has got to be terrifying. Having someone put a gun in your face and demanding you give up your vehicle can’t really be anything but scary. Carjackers are violent thugs and nothing else.
And it’s a problem, particularly as the economy keeps going to crap.
For one alleged carjacker, though, the economy isn’t going to be a problem for a little while. He made the mistake of trying to jack an off-duty police officer’s car and was shot for his trouble.
That’s a feel-good story, right there. What’s not such a feel-good story is his recent history.
Kendrick Anderson was also arrested last month for misdemeanor criminal trespass to a vehicle, and officials said he was adjudicated delinquent twice as a juvenile for charges related to stolen vehicles.
On August 2, Chicago police were maintaining surveillance on a hijacked car parked in the 5100 block of South Paulina when Anderson climbed into the driver’s seat, and four other people joined him as passengers, prosecutors said.
Cops tried to pull him over, but he reversed down the street at high speed, crashed into a parked car, and flipped the hijacked vehicle over, according to prosecutors. The parked car slammed into a Chicago police patrol car.
Officers arrested Anderson, allegedly as he tried to climb out of the driver’s seat.
Prosecutors charged him with possessing a stolen motor vehicle, driving while never having been issued a license, and criminal damage to government property. Officials said he posted a $9,000 deposit toward bail to get out of jail in August.
A little less than a month later, on September 21, Chicago police charged Anderson with misdemeanor criminal trespass to a vehicle. About six hours later, he was given a recognizance bond and let go from the CPD station in South Chicago.
In other words, he’d tried some Hollywood getaway and it ended with him crashing into a cop car, then got back out to “mysteriously” gain access to yet another vehicle he didn’t have permission to be in, then went and tried to carjack a cop.
For a car thief, he kinda sucks at it.
Anderson’s buddies dropped him off at the hospital before hightailing it out of there. Video shows the getaway vehicle, but since the car was stolen, it didn’t help much. They recovered the officer’s car–yes, unfortunately, the carjackers did get her SUV. Additionally, Anderson only had one boot on at the hospital, the other apparently having been left at the scene.
Again, he kinda sucks at this whole “stealing cars” thing despite what appears to be quite the history of doing so.
Frankly, I don’t feel bad for him. He’s fortunate that he wasn’t killed by the officer. The shooting would most definitely have been ruled as justified based on the description of what happened. Yes, even in Chicago.
Now, it looks like Anderson is going to end up back behind bars.
However, based on his recent history, he’ll be back on the streets and carjacking people within the week. It’s funny how that happens, yet Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has the cajones to blame the city’s violent crime problem on Indiana.
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