SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois State Police (ISP) intensified efforts to combat vehicle theft, hijacking, and related violent crimes between July and September 2025, utilizing grant funding from the Illinois Secretary of State’s Illinois Vehicle Hijacking and Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention and Insurance Verification Council.
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ISP received a $10 million grant for the first fiscal year, followed by additional funding of $677,000 in June 2024 and $637,500 in July 2025 to support these initiatives. During the third quarter of 2025, ISP conducted 40 missions targeting stolen and hijacked vehicles and related violent crimes.
The operations resulted in the recovery of 280 stolen or hijacked vehicles, 21 arrests related to stolen vehicles, and four arrests for vehicle hijacking. Law enforcement also seized 13 firearms connected to these crimes. The agency deployed 30 K9 units and conducted 34 air operations in support of these efforts. Forensic laboratories handled 1,287 assignments related to stolen and hijacked vehicles during this period.
Several notable incidents occurred during the quarter. On July 20, ISP officers located a stolen Nissan on Interstate 94 southbound near 63rd Street in Chicago. After the vehicle fled a traffic stop attempt, the driver abandoned the car near the 13000 block of South Ellis Avenue and fled on foot. ISP apprehended the driver and recovered a stolen firearm.
On August 28, officers stopped a stolen vehicle at 74th Street and Marybell Avenue in East St. Louis. The driver was taken into custody, and a drug pipe was found during the arrest.
On September 20, ISP attempted to stop a recently carjacked vehicle on Ogden Avenue at Polk Street in Chicago. The vehicle fled and collided with a Chicago Police Department squad car near Madison and Pulaski. The juvenile driver fled on foot but was subsequently taken into custody by ISP.
These efforts underscore ISP’s ongoing commitment to reducing vehicle theft and hijacking through coordinated enforcement operations supported by state grant funding.
