CURRENT EVENTS

Our National Carjacking Epidemic and a Few Prevention Tips

Variations on a Theme

Ed Newman
5 min readFeb 11, 2022

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Courtesy Chicago Police Department

By now I assume that you’ve heard that our country is in the midst of a carjacking epidemic. What concerns me is how many of these brazen events are happening in public places.

Stealing cars is nothing new. What’s new is the audacity. Victims aren’t just having their vehicles stolen from their driveways after dark. Victims are being assaulted while pumping gas or just sitting at a traffic light. What’s worse is that they are getting stabbed, pistol whipped, knocked out or punched in the face.

For me, the biggest surprise of all seems to be how many of these crimes are being committed by teenagers.

Here are a few stories from a recent news feed:

After dragging their victim, carjackers crash vehicle in the LGD and flee, police say — NOLA.com

Man charged in armed ride-share carjacking on I-80 — FOX 32 Chicago

Carjacking victim: I’m angry, but I feel sad for these kids | wwltv.com

Uber Driver Shot Twice During Mayfair Carjacking: Police — CBS Philly

NH man gets at least 12 years in fatal carjacking assault — WCAX

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Ed Newman

An avid reader who writes about arts, culture, literature & other life obsessions. @ennyman3 Look for my books on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/y3l9sfpj