A 72-year-old Chicago woman had her car hijacked while she was sitting in front a of a church reading her Bible.
The woman was sitting in front of the St. John’s Lutheran Church and School, 4939 W. Montrose Ave., in the Portage Park neighborhood on Chicago’s Northwest Side. She planned to pick up her two grandchildren, who attended the school.
A young man carrying a gun, between 18 and 22 years old in her estimate, jumped out of the truck, opened the door to her car, and yanked her out into the street.
He grabbed the grandmother’s purse from her hands, jumped in her car, and both cars sped away down Montrose Avenue.
The unidentified victim was too scared to talk to media so her daughter, Tracy Baldwin, tried to explain what happened.
“I was just terrified and shocked that that had happened just outside of a school ... to someone reading her Bible,” added Baldwin.
Interim principal at the Lutheran school, Dr. Donald Hendricks, released a statement about the incident.
Police said this is the third carjacking in five days in the city.
Tracy Baldwin had her own message for the carjackers.
“Everyone should be able to feel safe in their neighborhood doing things like that. I think that’s a fundamental right of citizens in any city. Even if you live in Chicago,” she said.
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