RIVER WEST — Two gunmen stuck up a packed doggy day care van stopped at a red light Wednesday, carjacking the van and making off with the six dogs who had been en route back to their owners.
"We are hoping [the van] gets ditched somewhere, and someone will jump out, and someone else will hear the dogs," said Joseph Giannini, owner of Urban Out Sitters. "Who wants a van full of dogs? I think their intention was to take the van, not the dogs."
The carjacking happened at 3:50 p.m. Wednesday in the 800 block of West Superior Street, according to Officer Veejay Zala, a Chicago Police Department spokesman.
Zala said the engine was running in the silver van containing six dogs when two armed men stole it. A man who saw the dognapping tried to stop it, but one of the guman pointed a gun at him and fled, Zala said.
The van is a silver 2002 Town & Country with a license plate "R188669," according to Giannini, whose business is at 3241 N. Dayton St. in Lakeview.
Giannini said one of his employees, the driver, was sitting at a stoplight when he was approached by two men who put a gun to the window and told him to get out.
"The guys jumped into the car and sped off," Giannini said.
Giannini described the mood among the six dog owners as "distraught."
"Nobody is placing blame; there is nothing you can do when someone approaches you with a gun. Everyone is very emotional and wants a resolution to this situation," Giannini said.
Rob Sayre, a Bucktown resident, is hoping for a safe return of Jaydn, scheduled to have been dropped off at his home around 5 p.m. Wednesday.
"I'm feeling up and down. I'm trying not to think about it and get emotional. I have no kids, I'm a single guy, and she is my roommate," Sayre said of his 7-year-old beagle lab mix, whom he's taken care of since she was 6 weeks old.
Reached early Thursday, Sayre said he was out until 2 a.m. looking for the van.
"I reached out to all the cab companies in the city to send out a description of the van to their drivers," Sayre said.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
