Teens charged in Waukegan carjacking spree

A pair of teenagers have been charged with stealing two vehicles at gunpoint this week in north suburban Waukegan.

The 17-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl, both Waukegan residents, were taken into custody Thursday night in Beach Park, according to a statement from Waukegan police.

The first carjacking was reported about 9 p.m. Wednesday in the 1600 block of Berwick Boulevard in Waukegan, police said. A woman in her 20s told officers that the girl and two male suspects, one of them armed with a handgun, had taken her 2011 Chevrolet Equinox by threat of force.

About 6:15 p.m. Thursday, the trio stole a Honda CR-V at gunpoint in the 2000 block of Western Avenue, according to police. The victim, a man in his 50s, told investigators all three suspects were armed.

One of the male suspects and the girl got into the Honda and drove off, while the other male suspect drove away in the Equinox that was stolen the night before, police said. The driver lost control of the Honda and crashed it into a ditch nearby, leaving it inoperable. The two people inside then got into the Equinox, which drove off.

Responding officers spotted the Equinox and began a pursuit, police said. During the chase, the Equinox crashed into another vehicle on Green Bay Road and continued northbound. The suspects abandoned the vehicle near Green Bay and Yorkhouse Road in Beach Park.

The 17-year-old boy went to a home in the 12000 block of Yorkhouse and told the homeowners he’d just been in a car accident, police said. The homeowners “quickly realized something was not right” and called police, who arrived and arrested the teen.

The girl was also taken into custody a short time later, police said. During the investigation, officers recovered ammunition and a black 9mm Taurus handgun that was reported stolen from Wisconsin.

The boy and girl are each charged with armed robbery, possession of a stolen firearm, resisting arrest and two counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking, police said. The boy is also charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, unlawful use of a weapon and aggravating fleeing and eluding, while the girl faces a charge of unlawful possession of ammunition.

They were both taken to the Depke Juvenile Detention Center in Vernon Hills, according to police. The third suspect remains at large and the case remains “open and active.”