A 15-time convicted felon is in prison after reportedly hijacking an SUV with a baby, dragging the child’s mother, and abandoning the infant on a Chicago sidewalk. Jeremy Ochoa, 38, was arrested last Thursday at 11:45 a.m., less than two hours after the carjacking.
Authorities say Ochoa approached a 36-year-old woman in the 1200 block of South Independence and forcibly removed her 2011 GMC Acadia, which still had the woman’s 7-month-old daughter strapped inside. Ochoa allegedly dragged the mother with his SUV as he drove away.
Chicago police located the stolen SUV using a combination of alerts from license plate readers and pings from a cellphone left inside the car. They soon found the SUV, unoccupied, in the 6200 block of South King Drive.
The 7-month-old girl was later found “abandoned on the sidewalk,” according to prosecutors.
According to a police report, a CPD officer watching surveillance cameras noticed Ochoa removing his shirt, and a covert police unit observed him entering a convenience shop at 61st and King Drive. Enforcement officers arrived to arrest him.
Judge James Murphy III ordered Ochoa held, noting that he has “over 15 different” criminal convictions, the majority of which are for domestic burglary.
He faces charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a passenger under the age of 16 and aggravated kidnapping of a child.
