Teen boy charged with Gold Coast carjacking, crash that left 3 hurt

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with a Gold Coast carjacking Tuesday night that led to a crash near Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park, leaving three people injured.

About 7:15 p.m., a 30-year-old man left his 2015 Mercedes-Benz running in the 1000 block of North Rush with the doors unlocked while he unloaded items from the trunk, according to Chicago police. The boy then got into the vehicle and drove off.

The man tried to stop the suspect and ended up getting dragged by the vehicle as it drove away, police said. The suspect eventually crashed the Mercedes-Benz into multiple parked cars, a pedestrian and a bicyclist in the 300 block of South Lake Shore Drive, near Jackson.

The vehicle’s owner suffered bruising during the incident, police said. He and the pedestrian, a 28-year-old woman, were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized. The bicyclist, a 45-year-old man, was treated at the scene for injuries that weren’t thought to be life-threatening.

The boy was taken into custody after the crash and charged with one felony count each of vehicular hijacking and leaving the scene of an accident causing injuries, police said. He was expected to appear in juvenile court on Wednesday.