CHICAGO — Ahmad was driving his taxi and looking for customers in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood late Wednesday when he saw a man hop in a car and speed off.
A couple who had been fiddling with a stroller began yelling and running after the car in the 1400 block of North Wells Street around 9:25 p.m.
“I saw the thief hop in the car,” said Ahmad, who only wanted his first name used. “The parents were running after the car along with the driver, and they were yelling like in horror.”
Ahmad guessed, correctly, that there was a child inside the stolen car. So he followed it. “I just gunned it.”
The black car, its trunk still open, drove through at least two traffic lights. Ahmad said he spotted Chicago police officers and told them what happened. Relieved that the officers were looking for the stolen car, Ahmad said he went back to work.
When he reached the Near North neighborhood around 9:40 p.m., he saw a car in the 100 block of West Chicago Avenue that looked like the stolen car. There was no driver inside, but a small child was asleep in the back.
“The baby was sound asleep through the whole thing,” he said.
Police said the girl was unharmed. No arrests have been reported and no detailed description of the carjacker was available.
Ahmad said his day hadn’t been going so well. He had only made $5 during the three hours he had been working. By late Wednesday, the parents of the child were thanking him for finding their child.
“This is my good deed of the day,” he said.
Copyright 2017 Chicago Tribune
Tribune News Service
