Crime in Your Driveway? by Michelle Czaja

The crime rate in Chicago has increased over the years and there have been exactly 27,295 violent crimes reported till this day; just over 10% of all crimes reported in Chicago. This past month, an Evanston teenager was caught carjacking and kidnapping.

“We live in a world where we never know what is going to happen next, so the best thing to do, is to be protected of your possessions,” said Gabriela Vaca, 19.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, Deangelo Fountain, 18, was charged with stealing a white Audi Q5 from the driveway of a home on the 1700 block of Good Avenue in Park Ridge while, 5-year-old Drake Whitker was inside. Deangelo was seen walking down the side of the road as a mother pulled up in front of her home and began taking the groceries inside, while her son was left sleeping in the car. Having left the car running, Deangelo thought the greatest thing he could do was steal the car, with the 5-year-old boy in it. I mean, why not?

Fountain made his way to the 1700 block of Good Avenue where he saw the Audi unlocked and running in the driveway and jumped into the driver’s seat. Drake Whitker was asleep in the back seat while his mother, who is seven weeks pregnant, was carrying items into the home, police said. In a rush to stop Deangelo from getting away, the mother chased after the car and managed to open the side door and grabbed him. Deangelo managed to push the mother off and drove away.

My question is however, why was her son left in the car? I mean are groceries just that important? Apparently so. Deangelo out of all people should’ve figured that carjacking a vehicle with a child in it wasn’t going to get him anywhere. I mean how does someone walking on the side of the road, simply look up and say, you know I’m just going to steal that car?

When asked, “what is the first thing that comes to mind when you see a vehicle running?” Wojciech Rosinski, 19, responded, “Oh look someone left their car running, sucks for them, man that sure is a waste of gas nowadays.” When I asked if he’d heard the story, he said yes, but never in his right mind would look up and say, “I’m going to steal that car.”

Fountain, who has a pending residential burglary charge, was wearing an electronic home monitoring bracelet at the time of his arrest, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Having been arrested already for previously committed crimes, Deangelo might have felt it was time for a change and that he was going to try something different.

“Teenagers nowadays feel they can get away with anything they please, which really confuses me. I don’t understand why he even stole the car in the first place; it makes no sense to me. I don’t know why the mother chose to leave her child in the car in the first place. I would've done the right thing; turn off the car, bring my child in and finally bring in my groceries. It’s as simple as that,” said Vaca.