A woman who helped a gunman carry out a brazen carjacking in the middle of the Dan Ryan Expressway, which was captured on video and went viral, has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Starreese Vickers, 23, of Calumet City, pled guilty to vehicular hijacking in exchange for the sentence from Judge Paul Pavlus, according to court documents. Under Illinois law, she will receive a 50% sentence reduction and credit for time spent on electronic monitoring while the case was ongoing. According to records, she is scheduled to be paroled in November.
While carjacking a vehicle in the traffic lanes of a Chicago expressway is newsworthy, this case received considerable notice because another driver captured the entire incident on camera shortly after 10 a.m. on October 14, 2022.
The motorist pulled over to record strange activity on the opposite side of the freeway, just north of the Stevenson Freeway. Three passengers were fleeing a damaged car that had reportedly been involved in an accident. One of them, wearing a black ski mask and holding what appeared to be a weapon, approached passing automobiles, presumably attempting to force someone to give him a ride.
At one time, the armed man appeared to hand a bunch of cash to the motorist filming the incident, asking for a ride. The driver refused.
“Look at that rifle! Look at that rifle!” the man shouted as he continued filming.
Moments later, the gunman gave up on offering money and decided to carjack someone.
“He’s hijacking the car! He’s hijacking the car right now!” the cameraman yelled, urging another driver to accelerate and leave the area. Instead, the victim, a 34-year-old man driving a red Dodge Journey, stopped near the hijacker.
The victim is shown on video stepping out of his SUV and raising his hands as the carjacker climbs into the driver’s seat. A woman with pink leggings, allegedly Vickers, dashed over and jumped into the passenger seat before the hijacked vehicle raced away.
Despite the viral video, no charges were immediately brought.
Nearly a year later, on September 21, 2023, prosecutors obtained an indictment for the alleged gunman, Vahsean Davenport. Illinois State Police revealed the charges on Facebook and set an arraignment for October 3.
Davenport never showed up in court. According to authorities, he vanished from his electronic monitoring station the day before the charges were widely revealed on social media. Officials stated his whereabouts had been unknown for over a month.
He reappeared early on Halloween morning, 2023, when a Chicago Police Department helicopter began following a stolen Infiniti Q50. The helicopter crew tracked the car throughout the city, directing patrol units until it crashed in the 5200 block of West Chicago Avenue.
Prosecutors claim Davenport was traveling in the passenger seat when the Infiniti crashed. He leaped out and attempted to flee, but was swiftly apprehended by cops.
During the scuffle, Davenport allegedly seized an officer’s holstered weapon and refused to release it. According to a CPD arrest report, the officer performed a series of mechanical strikes on Davenport’s face before recovering control of the weapon and arresting him.
According to a detention petition, Davenport’s electronic monitoring bracelet became untraceable weeks ago when the device lost battery life. Authorities subsequently filed additional charges against him, including evading electronic monitoring, attempting to disarm a peace officer, possessing a controlled narcotic, and misdemeanor trespassing on a motor vehicle.
The gun case that landed Davenport on electronic monitoring in the first place arose from an incident on March 23, 2023, near Goose Island. Prosecutors say a woman stepped outside her home in the 1300 block of West Crystal Street at 3 p.m. after hearing her car alarm.
She allegedly discovered one man carrying a gun next to her vehicle, while another was below, attempting to remove the catalytic converter. According to officials, the armed man intimidated the woman before the two suspects escaped in an Infiniti Q70. According to police records, the automobile was reported stolen at Insight Hospital in Bronzeville two days previously.
About 90 minutes later, officers discovered the Infiniti stalled in traffic on Lake Shore Drive near Chicago Avenue in Streeterville. According to prosecutors, as police approached the vehicle, Davenport exited the driver’s seat and attempted to walk away. Officers detained him and a 15-year-old child who was also in the car.
According to a Chicago police report, detectives discovered four catalytic converters in the Infiniti’s back seat and two more in the trunk.
Davenport is continuing to defend all of the charges in court.