Three Chicago residents are the latest to be indicted in a string of violent carjackings amid a surge of vehicle thefts and robberies in cities across the nation. 

According to the federal indictment, the Chicago group attempted several carjackings in September 2020, used guns to threaten drivers, fatally shot two people, and made fast food runs using the stolen vehicles and the carjacking victims’ credit cards.

Carjackings have spiked in some U.S. cities since the COVID-19 pandemic, including in the nation’s capital where incidents have multiplied by over five times from 2019 to 2023, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. Recent carjacking victims in Washington D.C. include a former Trump administration official, congressperson from Texas and Federal Bureau of Investigation agent.

Ernesto Lopez, research specialist at the council, told USA TODAY that carjackings and motor vehicle thefts can be a gateway to other violent offenses such as murder, burglary or another robbery, which was demonstrated in the string of carjackings in Chicago, according to the indictment announced Monday.

Indictment: Chicago residents robbed multiple cars

Three Chicago residents – Edson Resendez, Maverick Cela and Prezila Apreza – could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted in an indictment charging them with conspiring to commit multiple carjackings in Chicago and surrounding suburbs. It also accuses them of committing murder during a carjacking and murdering a second person while using a carjacked vehicle.

According to the indictment filed in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, the group attempted at least five carjackings over 11 days in September 2020. They also set one car on fire to dispose of it after robbing another one.

The group fatally shot Nabil Mahouar during an attempted carjacking in the Chicago neighborhood of Dunning, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and they allegedly used a car taken in another carjacking to fatally shoot Eduardo Triano in the North Park neighborhood.

Resendez, 22, Cela, 22, and Apreza, 23, are in law enforcement custody, according to prosecutors. 

Carjackings soar around nation’s capital

Carjackings in Washington D.C. far surpassed other cities, rising by a whopping 565% from 2019 to 2023, according to the Council on Criminal Justice. 

In a recent high-profile case, Michael Gill, who served under Trump as the chief of staff of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, died on Saturday after he was shot by a man on a carjacking spree on Jan. 29. In November, an FBI agent was carjacked at gunpoint in Washington D.C., one month after U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar was carjacked by armed assailants near the Capitol building. On Friday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Antwon Haynie, 26, of Washington, D.C. was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to crimes related to two armed carjackings.

The Metropolitan Police Department said there have been 57 carjacking offenses in Washington D.C. so far in 2024, and eight carjacking arrests. Thirty of the carjackings have involved firearms, according to police.

Carjackings spiked during pandemic

From 2019 to 2023, carjackings spiked by 93% across ten cities, according to the Council on Criminal Justice.

While carjackings fell in 2023 by 5% in the ten reporting cities, they were still at unusually high levels, council data showed. Motor vehicle thefts continued to rise, up by 29% in 2023 from the previous year.

Lopez told USA TODAY the data on carjackings was limited since it was not a common offense compared to other crimes, and law enforcement agencies often report carjackings as robberies rather than the specific crime type.

However, he noted available data points to an unusual phenomenon in some cities, including Washington D.C., where both motor vehicle thefts and carjackings are rising. A carjacking and motor vehicle theft both involve illegally taking a car, but carjacking is robbing an occupied car by force.

Lopez said he expected the two offenses to move in opposite directions – as more people are illegally taking cars by theft, fewer are generally robbing by force. However, both offenses spiked in some U.S. cities from 2019 to 2023, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago.

Carjackings reportedly rose in 2020, despite the fact that people were in their cars less in the early months of the pandemic, Lopez said. And while preliminary data suggests carjackings tapered slightly last year, they remain at unusually high levels, though Lopez noted they still only account for a small number of robberies.

“When it comes to carjackings, it’s important to keep in mind that while these are shocking, violent and can be very brutal events, they tend to be fairly rare events as well,” Lopez said.

Bigger picture in carjackings across nation

Despite the recent spike in carjackings, federal data indicates there are much fewer incidents than two decades ago.

According to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics spanning from 1995 to 2021, carjackings have generally been on the decline, although the data doesn’t fully reflect the recent spike since the pandemic.

The data also shows that Black and Hispanic people are more likely to be the victim of carjackings than white people, but men and women are equally as likely. About one in four nonfatal carjackings result in the victim getting hurt, the report said, and carjackings are more likely to happen near a victim’s home than in any other place.

Auto theft prevention

The National Insurance Crime Bureau recommends four safety measures to prevent vehicle theft:

∎ Common sense: Remove your keys from the ignition, lock the doors, close the window, park your car in a well-lit area, and don't leave the key in the car, even if it's hidden.

∎ Warning device: You can deter a thief by installing audible alarms, steering wheel locks and decals. You can also etch the vehicle identification number onto the windows, which will lower the vehicle's value to thieves, as they have to spend time and money on removing it before reselling the car. 

∎ Immobilizing device: You can also install immobilizing devices, such as fuse cut-offs, kill switches and ignition disablers, which prevent the vehicle from starting unless a hidden switch or button is activated. 

∎ Tracking device: If a thief steals your car, tracking devices can help get it back. When your car is stolen, they help notify the police or a monitoring station to recover it.