Carjacker Allegedly Stole Minivan From Mom, Drove 100 mph On Edens

Northbrook police have identified the man who allegedly hijacked a car on Dundee Road Saturday, then caused a five-car crash on the Edens Expressway.

John Landem, 42, of unincorporated Elgin Township, allegedly stole a minivan belonging to a Lake Forest woman from the 3100 block of Dundee Road around 3:43 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19. According to police, Landem approached the woman as she was getting into her car and demanded that she give him her keys and cash. Her three young children, all under the age of six, were already in the car. 

The woman complied with his request, according to police, handing over the keys and $45 in cash. She also told the hijacker that her three kids were in the car, and he let them get out before driving off.  Neither she nor her children were injured, according to police, and Landem was not armed.

After the hijacker left, the woman called 911, and Northbrook police dispatchers put out a call to a regional police network and to the Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network, hoping to locate her car. 

Landem allegedly took off southbound on the Edens expressway. Witnesses said he reached speeds of 100 miles per hour and drove on the shoulder, according to Northbrook Police Chief Charles Wernick. Contrary to prior reports, Wernick said that Northbrook and Skokie police officers did not send cars to follow him. 

“There were no police vehicles involved in pursuit of this car,” Wernick said.

Landem ultimately crashed into four other cars near Peterson Avenue in Chicago.

"The offender was traveling at a high rate of speed, which caused the vehicle to crash," Illinois State Police spokesperson Monique Bond wrote in an e-mail. 

After the crash, Landem allegedly attempted to carjack another vehicle before Skokie police took him into custody. Three people were hospitalized after the crash, including Landem, who sustained minor injuries, police reported. The two others were released, but Landem remained at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital as of Monday morning. According to a representative from the hospital, he is in stable condition.

Northbrook police charged Landem with one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking and one count of robbery. Illinois state police charged him with one count of vehicular hijacking. 

Police Chief Charles Wernick said he had never seen a carjacking in Northbrook in his seven-year career at the department.