Law and Order, Local Police Reports, Park Forest

Country Club Hills Man Charged with Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking After Police Chopper Tracks Suspects

auto theft, man charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking
(MGN)

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A Country Club Hills man was charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking following an incident where a car was reported stolen at gunpoint on Monee Road. With a quick response and a police helicopter officers, were able to track the stolen vehicle and two suspects to South Holland.

Police responded to Monee Road to investigate a report of an armed robbery on May 29 at approximately 4:38 PM. A man told them that had arrived home from a store in Country Club Hills in his car. The man said he pulled into his garage, and, after exiting his vehicle was approached by two men with black semi-automatic weapons, according to police.

While pointing his firearm at the man, one of the men allegedly demanded the keys to the man’s vehicle. The man surrendered his keys and the first suspect entered the vehicle and sat in the driver’s seat, according to police. During this exchange, the second man was also allegedly pointing a black semi-automatic firearm at the victim, according to police. The second suspect followed the first and entered the vehicle, sitting in the front passenger seat, according to police. That suspect then exited the vehicle, approached the victim, and allegedly demanded his cell phone while pointing the firearm at him, according to police.

The man surrendered his cell phone.

The suspects allegedly fled in the man’s vehicle westbound on Monee Road. The victim told police that he was not hurt during the incident, according to police.

An officer at the scene relayed the information of the alleged aggravated vehicular hijacking to the Illinois State Police. The man’s vehicle was entered into LEADS as stolen.

The man told police that he had previously had a GPS tracking device installed on his vehicle. Police were thus able to track the vehicle to an address in Hazel Crest shortly after 5 PM. Near 5:30 PM, Country Club Hills Police advised they had a sighting of the man’s vehicle but had not continued pursuit, according to police.

The officer from Park Forest continued to provide updated pings of the vehicle’s location to another Park Forest officer who was in direct communication with a police helicopter. At approximately 5:50 PM, Illinois State Police units and the police helicopter were able to locate the vehicle in South Holland and take two suspects into custody who were allegedly fleeing on foot from the vehicle, according to police.

Devonte M. Mauldin, 21, 4124 Cambridge Dr., Country Club Hills, was arrested and charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking – weapon and additionally charged with resisting/obstructing pertaining to his arrest by the Illinois State Police, according to Park Forest Police. As the second alleged offender is a juvenile, information regarding his case cannot be released, according to police.

The man’s vehicle was towed from South Holland to the Park Forest Police Department, according to police.

About Police Reports

Please note that we repeatedly say “according to police” in these reports and often use “allegedly.” We are not asserting in any way that those police arrested and charged committed any offenses. We report on what is in the reports that the police furnish to us. As those accused are innocent until proven guilty, the burden is on prosecutors and police to prove all alleged crimes.

eNews Park Forest has continuously published the addresses of those arrested and will continue to do so. 5 ILCS 140/2.15 states that the governmental body (for these reports, the Police Department), shall release information on those charged, including their name, age, and address. This information is necessary to ensure the proper identity of those arrested.

Presumption of Innocence

An arrest does not mean that a person is guilty. The law presumes all those whom police arrest are innocent until proven guilty. It is the policy of eNews Park Forest not to remove items from the public record from publication. Suppose you find your name in the police reports. Our policy is that we will only add information relevant to the final disposition of the case at hand, e.g., “Mr. Smith was subsequently acquitted,” “Mr. Smith entered a guilty plea,” or “All charges against Mr. Smith were subsequently dropped.” We will do so upon receiving and verifying proof of such disposition.

We do not strike, “unpublish,” or delete news.

According to police, officers captured all the incidents in this report on body-worn and dash-mounted cameras at the respective scenes. All Park Forest police officers wear body-worn cameras. Officials typically abbreviate these devices as BWC in the reports.

We encourage persons wishing to leave anonymous information on any criminal matters, including narcotics or gang activity, to call the Park Forest Police Department Investigations Division at (708) 748-1309.

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