By T.C. Mayfield, The Chicago Times
February 17, 2023
WHEATON – The first of two men accused of hijacking a woman’s car at knife point from a Villa Park parking lot while her two children were in the back seat has been sentenced to nineteen years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
According to prosecutors, Luis Gomez-Garcia, 30, formerly of Bensenville, entered a plea of guilty to one count of aggravated kidnapping.
On October 10, 2021, Gomez-Garcia and co-defendant, Christopher Krieg, 34, formerly of Carol Stream, appeared in Bond Court where bond was denied for both men.
According to court records, on October 8, 2021, Villa Park police officers responded to a call of an aggravated carjacking in a parking lot of a shopping mall located at 270 W. North Avenue in Villa Park. Police reported that at approximately 4:48 pm, the victim and her children, ages ten and five, exited the mall and entered her vehicle and was approached by Gomez-Garcia who allegedly put a 3 ½” knife to the mother’s throat through an open window and demanded the victim move over to the front passenger seat.
Allegedly, Krieg then entered the rear passenger area of the vehicle with the victim’s children. Gomez-Garcia allegedly then ordered the victim to handover her property which included an iPhone 11, Apple Watch, and wallet. It is further alleged that Gomez-Garcia demanded the victim to drive to her house, but the victim drove to a different location where she and her children were released. Gomez-Garcia allegedly told the victim not to contact the police and that he held the knife in his right hand the entire time. Gomez-Garcia and Krieg then allegedly fled in the victim’s vehicle.
A joint investigation by the Villa Park Police Department and the Chicago Police Department led to the arrest of Gomez-Garcia and Krieg in the 2900 block of W. Harrison in Chicago.
“The shockingly violent conduct that Mr. Gomez-Garcia pled guilty to this morning, which is also alleged against his co-defendant, is simply horrifying. I cannot begin to imagine the heart-stopping fear and terror this woman and her two young children were forced to endure while Mr. Gomez-Garcia held a knife to her throat and Mr. Krieg was allegedly in the back seat with the children. Thankfully neither the woman nor her children were physically harmed during this alleged incident.” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin.
The Chicago Times 