Chicago, Illinois: Person of Interest Questioned After Attempted Child Abduction and SUV Theft in Bucktown

Chicago police are questioning a person of interest after a man tried to abduct a child in Bucktown on Thursday afternoon and then stole a woman's SUV at a car wash minutes later, the department said in an update on Friday. The attempted abduction near North Damen Avenue failed, and officers said the child was safe with them. No one was reported injured in either incident. Police have not announced any arrests, and they have not said whether the stolen SUV has been found.

Minutes from Damen Avenue to the car wash

Police said the man attempted to abduct a child near the 2400 block of North Damen Avenue, close to Fullerton Avenue, on Thursday. Scanner traffic put the first call from Bucktown shortly after 4 p.m. Officers described the incident over the radio as an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt and said they had the child with them, FOX 32 Chicago reported. The reports released so far do not give the child's age, and police have not released any information about the child. Minutes later, the man drove to the $5 Fullerton Express Car Wash along Fullerton Avenue. Surveillance video captured him abandoning a white box van and stealing another vehicle, police said. Video obtained by FOX Chicago shows a woman vacuuming her white SUV when the man got into the driver's seat and drove away. The woman appears to try to stop him as the vehicle leaves the car wash. An officer said over scanner audio that the man entered the front seat while the woman was vacuuming the back seat, InterNewsCast reported. The white box van left behind at the car wash did not appear to have license plates. Detectives remained at the scene for several hours, gathering evidence and speaking with witnesses, FOX 32 reported.

A custody report, then a person of interest

In an update later on Thursday, Chicago police said a person had been taken into custody, and no charges had been filed at that time, InterNewsCast reported. On Friday, the department gave a narrower update. Area Five detectives are speaking with a person of interest in connection with the attempted child abduction and the vehicle theft, police said. The department did not provide additional information about that person, and it did not announce any arrests. It also remains unclear whether the stolen SUV has been recovered. Police have released no name in the case, and no charges were announced in the Friday update. The investigation is ongoing, and any person questioned in the case is presumed innocent unless charges are filed and proven in court. Parents in Bucktown learned of the attempt from police radio traffic and television reports on Thursday evening, and the Friday update was the first word from the department that detectives had a person of interest to question.