Rockford man charged in stabbing, Huntley cab hijacking

A Rockford man has been charged with vehicular hijacking after stabbing a cabdriver in the neck with a pen and swiping his vehicle in Huntley Thursday morning, authorities said.

Christopher L. Mackey, 31, of the 1300 block of North Horace Avenue in Rockford, also has been charged with robbery and aggravated battery after his arrest at about 8 p.m. Thursday. Huntley police said the cab contained $20 and a cellular phone.

Mackey was taken into custody by the Winnebago County Sheriff’s police in Rockford after the investigation pinned him to the crime and he was found, police said. He was transported back to the Huntley Police Department, where he was charged.

Huntley police officers responded at 9:26 a.m. Thursday to a report of a taxi driver who had been hit on the neck and was pushed out of his cab in the parking lot at Prime Outlets Mall at the Jane Addams Tollway and Route 47. The cab is a green and white van owned by 303 Taxi of Chicago.

The driver originally picked up the fare in Hoffman Estates and, at the suspect’s request, was driving to Rockford, police said.

At some point during the ride, the fare asked the driver to stop at the mall, police said.

Once he did, the suspect stabbed the driver in the neck with a pen, pushed him out of the van and drove off, Deputy Police Chief Michael Klunk said.

The 30-year-old driver was treated at Sherman Hospital in Elgin for two puncture wounds to his neck. The injuries are not life-threatening, Klunk said.

Police used the cab’s GPS system to track the van to Rockford, where police found it abandoned.

Daily Herald staff writer Lenore T. Adkins contributed to this report