Teens charged in carjacking outside Addison movie theater

A pair of teenagers accused of carjacking a couple at gunpoint at an Addison movie theater then leading police on a chase Sunday will be detained until at least until their next court appearance, a DuPage County judge ordered Tuesday.

The teens, a 17-year-old boy from Bensenville and a 16-year-old boy from Willowbrook, each face one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm and armed robbery with a firearm, county prosecutors said.

Authorities said Addison police responded about 7:41 p.m. Sunday to a call of an armed carjacking at the theaters on the 1500 block of West Lake Street. Officers met with the victims, who reported that three armed males, two wearing ski masks, approached them in the theater’s parking lot and demanded the keys to their 2014 Infinity.

The suspects then left in the Infinity as well as a gray Dodge Challenger that had been parked a few spaces away, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.

A short time later, officers spotted the Infinity driving eastbound on Lake Street near Villa Avenue, where they attempted a traffic stop. The Infiniti instead continued to eastbound I-290, where officers ended the pursuit, officials said.

At approximately 8:32 p.m., Addison police officers located the Dodge traveling westbound on I-290 near Austin Boulevard, prosecutors said. The Dodge exited I-290 at 17th Avenue and continued to drive with Addison and Elmhurst police officers following, authorities say.

When officers later attempted to box in the vehicle at Roosevelt Road and Harlem Avenue, the Dodge struck an unmarked squad card and continued to flee, prosecutors allege. Officers later successfully boxed in the Dodge at the I-290 exit ramp at 1st Avenue and arrested the defendants, authorities said.

The unoccupied Infinity was located approximately six minutes later in Maywood, officials said.

Authorities said they found a three handguns, one with a switch to make it fully automatic and another with an extended magazine loaded with 23 bullets, inside the Dodge.

“This was a heinous act committed by individuals who have no regard for human life,” Addison Police Chief Roy Selvik said in a news release Tuesday. “People need to feel safe simply going to a movie theater, and we will expend every resource possible taking these violent offenders into custody.”

The teens are scheduled to return to court Jan. 9, in front of DuPage County Judge Demetrios Panoushis.