39-Year-Old Faces Multiple Charges After Bucktown Carjacking And Kidnapping Attempt

A 39-year-old Chicago man is facing multiple charges following a reported child kidnapping attempt and two carjackings in the Bucktown neighborhood.

Timothy Lee was charged with vehicular hijacking, attempted vehicular hijacking, and unlawful vehicular invasion. Police said Lee attempted to carjack a vehicle in the 2300-block of North Lister Avenue just before 4:15 p.m. on Thursday.

Around the same time, scanner audio captured officers responding to an attempted child kidnapping at the intersection of Damen and Fullerton Avenue. A voice on the radio stated the child was safe and the offender, who was in a white box truck, had fled. Lee is not currently facing attempted kidnapping charges as of Saturday morning.

Police said the suspect went to a nearby carwash after the reported abduction attempt. He allegedly carjacked a woman after getting out of a white van. Scanner audio described the moment he jumped into the front seat while the victim was vacuuming the backseat. Police confirmed Lee allegedly carjacked someone in the 2100-block of West Fullerton Avenue shortly after the Lister Avenue incident.

Neither the child nor the carjacking victim were harmed. However, local residents expressed concern about the events happening during the day. Emily Varjan, a Bucktown resident, said it was scary to know something like that could happen while running errands.

Varjan’s roommate, Kelly Burns, said she had been to the carwash before. Burns was the victim of a separate carjacking years ago. She now takes simple precautions, such as keeping her phone on her body and carrying pepper spray.