A Chicago man has been charged with kidnapping a woman Tuesday in Palos Park, forcing her to drive for hours before carjacking a man in Worth, police said.
Damonte McCorkle, 25, was charged with aggravated vehicular hijacking and kidnapping, according to court records.
At about 5:40 a.m. Tuesday, police said a man used a gun to steal a woman’s car on 80th Avenue across the street from Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital.
Prosecutors said the woman had just dropped her father off at the hospital and was at the post office to mail Christmas cards to her family when she was approached by the man, later identified as McCorkle. Prosecutors claim McCorkle, who was wearing a mask, brandished a handgun at the woman instructing her to get out of the car.
Police said after the woman, who lives in Oak Lawn, refused to get out, the gunman got into the passenger seat and told her to drive around.
While driving around, McCorkle took off his mask and began to smoke marijuana and cigarettes while telling the woman where to go, prosecutors said. He took $247 from the woman along with her driver’s license and phone, they said.
He had the woman drive around for six hours before telling her to stop at 1:30 p.m. near 103rd and Southwest Highway in Chicago Ridge, and told the woman he was going to get another car, police and prosecutors said.
But he then carjacked an car driven by an 85-year-old man in Worth and told the woman she could leave, police and prosecutors said.
The woman went home and told her husband what had happened, police said. They then called Oak Lawn police who notified Palos Park police.
McCorkle led police on a high-speed chase through the suburbs before being apprehended while driving the elderly man’s car, police said. Chicago Ridge police attempted to stop him earlier, but he fled to Crestwood, where officers from Chicago Ridge and Robbins were able to block his path and take him into custody, police said.
Officers at the scene recovered the 85-year-old man’s car along with a loaded handgun, police said. Prosecutors said he did not have a Firearm Owner Identification Card or a concealed carry License.
The man was first taken to Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital to check for injuries, according to Palos Park police.
Prosecutors said McCorkle admitted to taking both cars after his arrest.
At a bond hearing Thursday, a judge ordered McCorkle detained at Cook County Jail while awaiting trial, court records show.
McCorkle is due back in court Jan. 3 in Bridgeview, according to court records.
smoilanen@chicagotribune.com
