Police: Plate reader leads cops to teen carjackers on West Side

A license plate reader helped Chicago Police officers nab two teenage carjackers Monday morning on the West Side, according to police.

About 4:30 a.m. Friday, a 46-year-old man was warming up his 2002 Jeep before work in the 2800 block of North Rockwell when two people stole the vehicle at gunpoint, police said.

As Harrison District officers were on patrol in a squad car about 8:45 a.m. Monday, their license plate reader spotted the Jeep in traffic in the 500 block of South Kedzie, police said.

The Jeep took off when the officers tried to pull it over, and the 17-year-old boy at the wheel crashed at Congress Parkway and Kedzie Avenue, according to police, who said he was carrying two handguns when he was arrested.

A 16-year-old boy tried to run away from the Jeep, but was arrested in the 3300 block of West Van Buren, police said.

The older boy was charged with two felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon, and the younger faces a misdemeanor count of criminal trespass to a vehicle, police said. Their names were withheld because they are minors.