Evanston Teen Charged with Carjacking

An Evanston teenager has been charged with threatening a woman and stealing her vehicle in Evanston on Monday, according to Evanston police. He was also charged with trying to steal another vehicle earlier that day.

Police received a call around 12:30 p.m. Monday about a carjacking in an alley in the 600 block of Sheridan Road. The victim, a 69-year-old woman, was parked in the alley with the keys in the ignition when she said a man opened the vehicle’s door, threatened her and implied that he had a weapon, police said. He then pulled her from the vehicle and drove off.

The vehicle was found a short time later in Rogers Park, police said, and then drove back into Evanston where the driver hit two cars and then ran away. Police took him into custody in the 400 block of Keeney Street after finding him hiding under a back stairway. No one was injured in the chase.

The victim identified the man as the person who carjacked her. Police have identified him as Reneil Downer, of the 1300 block of Ashland Avenue.

Police learned that he had tried to steal another vehicle earlier that day near Lee Street and Forest Avenue.

Downer was charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking, aggravated battery and attempted possession of a stolen motor vehicle, police said.

Downer was paroled last month after convictions for possession of a stolen vehicle and fleeing police, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections website.

He is due in court June 11.

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