15 years in prison for teen who carjacked Hanover Park cabbies
A Chicago teen pleaded guilty to carjacking two different cabdrivers in Hanover Park last summer.
Martin Barrientos, 19, was sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated vehicular hijacking and one count of robbery, court records show.
Prosecutors say on June 18, Barrientos and his female co-defendant, Yamilka Gomez, 20, held a knife to a female cabdriver's ribs and demanded money. The woman gave them $800, along with her cellphone and wallet and they drove off in her cab, which police found at Polk Street and California Avenue in Chicago, prosecutors said during Barrientos' and Gomez's bond hearings last summer.
The next day, say authorities, Barrientos and Gomez arranged for a cab to transport them from Chicago to Hanover Park. Prosecutors say Barrientos held a knife to the 59-year-old driver's neck while Gomez went through his pockets. After taking $100 from him, prosecutors say, Barrientos and Gomez told the driver to exit the cab, then pushed him to the ground and drove off.
Stopped for a traffic violation on June 20, they were arrested after police recognized they matched descriptions of the carjacking suspects, authorities said.
Charges against Gomez are still pending. She next appears in court on Jan. 23.