Chicago police responded about 6:00 a.m. Tuesday January 24, 2017 to a stolen vehicle and apparent kidnapping when a Buick Rendezvous was taken while the vehicle was warming up with a 10-year-old boy sitting inside.
Richard Rodriguez said he had gotten into his parents’ Buick Rendezvous near Kildare Avenue and Armitage Avenue to wait for his parents to drive him to school. Suddenly a teen boy and a teen girl jumped in the SUV and and drove it away.
“At first I thought it was my mom, but when I heard her laugh, and go really fast, I was thinking maybe that’s not my mom, because my mom drives better,” Richard said. “I don’t think they have a driving license, because they drove really fast. I don’t think they even know how to drive, because when they were driving really fast, they were hitting a lot of cars and posts.”
Police said the suspects dropped Richard off at an alley about four blocks away from his home where the SUV was taken. He was immediately reunited with his parents after someone called police, concerned about the well-being of a child dropped off on city streets. Apparently 9-1-1 or the number the man used to call police was not immediately answered, and then the Good Samaritan called the boy’s parents.
“After they turned (the suspects turned toward Richard), they said a bad word, and then they said, ‘Oh my God, there’s a kid over here,’ and then they just told me ‘Get off, get off,’” Richard said. “They just left me in the alley, and I started walking to Palmer and Kostner, where someone saw me and called the police, but they didn’t answer, so he called my mom.”
Richard Rodriguez was not injured. He described the offenders as a 12- to 14-year-old female and a 17- to 18-year-old male.
The stolen SUV was not immediately located, no suspects are in custody, and CPD Area North detectives are investigating.
Get updates from The Cardinal CRIME BLOG ‘Plus’ on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Crime & Forensics’ Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts in the 24/7 Crime Alerts! and sub-categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
Help fund The Cardinal Arlingtoncardinal.com/sponsor