Police: Man stole vehicles from good Samaritans who stopped to help after crashes
A 26-year-old Chicago man has been charged with stealing three vehicles, including two from motorists who stopped to help after crashes early Saturday morning.
Calvin Taylor, of the 1300 block of Lorel Avenue, faces charges of armed violence, aggravated vehicular hijacking, three counts of possession of a stolen vehicle and two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, according to Kane County court records.
The armed violence charge stems from a carjacking in Aurora in which Taylor had a gun, police said.
According to Aurora police, Taylor was armed with a handgun when he took a 2004 Kia minivan from a motorist at a gas station on the 300 block of South Broadway Street at 5:25 a.m. Saturday.
At 5:33 a.m., an Aurora officer spotted the Kia near Lake Street and Indian Trail Road, where Taylor had crashed the minivan. A 33-year-old man from Sandwich stopped to help, and Taylor jumped into the good Samaritan's black 2005 Chevrolet and drove off, leaving the handgun in the damaged minivan.
Two minutes later, police responded to a rollover on Interstate 88 near Farnsworth Avenue involving the recently stolen black Chevrolet. There, police learned Taylor had crashed, then stole a gray Dodge Avenger from an 18-year-old Sycamore woman, who had stopped to help.
Nearly two hours later, Taylor and the gray Dodge Avenger were spotted near I-290 in Bellwood. After a brief vehicle pursuit, he crashed and Illinois State Police arrested him.
Taylor suffered a broken leg and broken ankle in one of the crashes and was treated at Stroger Hospital in Chicago. Monday night, Taylor was brought back to the Aurora Police Department and then the Kane County jail. He also was wanted on an Illinois Department of Corrections warrant for a parole violation for vehicle theft, according to police.
Taylor is held at the Kane County jail on $500,000 bail, meaning he must post $50,000 to be released while the charges are pending.
He is next due in court July 11 and faces a punishment ranging from six to 30 years in prison with no chance of probation if convicted of the most severe charge of armed violence.