COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A teen has been charged as an adult for forcing three drivers from their cars at gunpoint in a string of South Side carjackings, prosecutors said.
Steven Kelsy, who authorities say is 15 years old, appeared in Cook County bond court Wednesday on charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking.
The teen was in a silver car about 6:30 a.m. Sunday when he rear-ended a 2011 Cadillac SRX in the 7100 block of South Dorchester Avenue, Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth Dibler said.
When the driver got out of the Cadillac to check the damage, the teen approached and pulled a semi-automatic handgun, Dibler said. The driver ran away, and the teen jumped in the car and sped away.
Less than two hours later, a silver car slammed into the back of a 2011 Volkswagen in an unknown location. Steven got out and again threatened the driver, a mother with a 7-year-old child in tow, with a gun, Dibler said.
Steven demanded money and the woman's cellphone, Dibler said. He was rummaging around inside the car when the mother told him her son was in the back.
The teen ordered the mother to take her son out of the car and then drove away with it, Dibler said.
Two days later, on Dec. 17, Steven and an unidentified co-offender walked up to a 2006 Dodge Durango in the 6800 block of South Ridgeland Avenue, Dibler said. Steven pointed a gun at the driver and ordered him out of the car and jumped in, she said.
He allegedly crashed the car into a parked vehicle before making his escape.
Steven was arrested at his home, where the second victim's Volkswagen was parked, and charged with three counts of vehicular hijacking, police said.
Steven's public defender said Wednesday that she'd talked to Steven's mother, who said her son is only 14 years old.
The teen, who also has a pending case on gun charges in the juvenile system, was ordered held on $600,000 bond.
