1 in custody after carjackers lead police on chase from Skokie to South Side

A juvenile was in custody after an armed carjacking Sunday evening in north suburban Skokie led to a chase involving a Chicago Police helicopter that ended in a crash on the South Side.

About 6:54 p.m., a 17-year-old boy and another male suspect approached a woman parking her car in the 8000 block of Keating Avenue, pulled out a handgun and demanded her property, according to Skokie police. After they took her white Mercedes-Benz, the woman ran off and called police.

Officers later recognized the Mercedes near the intersection of Lockwood Avenue and Conrad Street and tried to pull it over, police said. The Mercedes, which was being followed by a Nissan, then drove off.

Police followed the two vehicles to the intersection of Lockwood Avenue and Dempster Street, where the Mercedes crashed into an object and the driver took off, police said. Officers then took him into custody a block away.

The Nissan that officers thought was involved in the carjacking drove away from the incident and was later spotted traveling south on the Edens Expressway by Wilmette police. Officers followed the Nissan south before calling in a Chicago Police helicopter, which followed the suspects to a large apartment complex near the intersection of East 45th Street and South Drexel Boulevard in the South Side Bronzeville neighborhood.

State troopers and officers from Chicago, Skokie and Wilmette surrounded the complex but were unable to locate a pair of suspects who jumped out of the Nissan, police said.

The juvenile who was arrested after fleeing the stolen Mercedes remained in custody at the Skokie Police Department, police said. Charges were pending Monday afternoon.

Anyone with information about the incident should call Skokie police at (847) 982-5900.