COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Side man who was recently paroled for carjacking tried to carjack two women within two hours in Hyde Park on Monday, prosecutors said.
The second victim's quick thinking helped police arrest Dwayne Corley, 22, moments after he stole her car, Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto said during a bond hearing Tuesday.
Corley had forced the 34-year-old victim out of her 2014 Mazda about 12:15 p.m. Monday at Midway Plaisance Park, court records show.
The woman ran to a nearby University of Chicago emergency phone, and when campus police arrived moments later, Corley was still sitting in the woman's car, according to an arrest report.
Monday's arrest comes less than two weeks after Corley was released on parole for a 2013 carjacking that happened inside a Target parking lot, Scaduto said. Corley was convicted earlier this year and sentenced to 4½ years in prison, court records show. He was credited with serving more than two years in the Cook County Jail awaiting trial and released on parole on Sept. 22.
Monday's attacks started about 10:15 a.m. in the 5400 block of South Blackstone Avenue, Scaduto said.
There, Corley walked up to a woman in a 2010 Toyota Corolla and asked her where to find Harper Street, authorities said. After the woman pointed Corley in the right direction, he punched her in the head and tried to drag her out of the car by her hair, Scaduto said.
The woman fought back and honked her horn, and Corley eventually ran off after trying unsuccessfully to take the woman's wallet, prosecutors said.
Two hours later, about 12:15 p.m., in the 1220 block of East Midway Plaisance, Corley approached the Mazda owner as she sat in her car with her keys and phone on her lap, Scaduto said.
After a struggle, Corley was able to force the woman out of her car, according to prosecutors. The woman tried to grab her backpack, but Corley told her to leave everything and go, authorities said.
That's when she called University of Chicago campus police from a nearby emergency phone, according to Scaduto.
Campus police were able to detain Corley until Chicago Police officers arrived and arrested the man about 12:20 p.m. Monday, an arrest report said. Corley was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet as part of his parole, police noted.
Corley, of the 9300 block of South Emerald Avenue in Brainerd, was charged with vehicular hijacking and unlawful vehicular invasion.
Cook County Judge James Brown on Tuesday ordered Corley held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
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