Lake County Sheriff's police say software held them up in tracking mom's carjacked Volkswagen
LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. (CBS) -- There were questions Friday for automaker Volkswagen after a Libertyville mother who was six months pregnant was beaten, carjacked, and run over.
Her 2-year-old son in the back seat was also abducted – though he was later found and returned home.
But as the Lake County Sheriff's police went to track the car to find the child, detectives say Volkswagen would not allow them access to the tracking device inside.
As CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reported, the 2021 Volkswagen was stolen from the 34-year-old mom's own driveway ear Buckley Road and Milwaukee Avenue in unincorporated Libertyville at 3:35 p.m. Thursday. She took her older child inside with her 2-year-old son still in the back seat.
A white BMW with two people inside pulled in behind the victim's Volkswagen – and blocked her in. Family believes the woman and her children were followed home from the pet store.
A man then got out of the BMW and tried to get into hers. The suspect battered the woman, knocking her to the ground.
He then stole the Volkswagen with the child inside. He and the driver of the BMW fled the scene. One of the drivers ran the woman over as they fled – causing serious injuries to her extremities, police said.
The child was found about 15 minutes later and not that far away, at Routes 43 and 120 near Waukegan.
As of Friday afternoon, the child was okay - and the mom was still being treated at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. She was getting ready to undergo surgery Saturday for a broken pelvis and elbow.
But the sheriff's department says this could have ended worse – and finding a car in real time can be the difference between life and death.
"If there's a GPS tracker on a car, and the car is stolen, it helps law enforcement track it to exactly where it's located," said Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Chris Covelli.
A GPS tracker called the VW Car-Net system is installed in most newer-model Volkswagens. It allows the car owner and the dealer GPS access.
"It can track where a car is pretty much in real time," Covelli said.
Covelli said Car-Net is a huge resource for law enforcement investigating carjackings. But it requires authorization from the dealer.
"Many manufacturers will provide that information to us if we affirm that it's exigent in nature," Covelli said.
That is exactly what detectives say was needed Thursday night.
After the mom's Volkswagen was stolen on Thursday, detectives immediately went to track it – only to run into an issue with its Car-Net system. The victim's subscription had expired.
"The receptionist looked up the information on the Volkswagen and said that the customer was no longer in the free trial version of the program – and in order to receive that data, would need to pay $150 – so that slowed the process down," said Covelli.
Eventually, the sheriff's department paid the $150 fee – but by that time, the child had been abandoned in the empty parking lot for Amhurst Lake Business Park in Waukegan – where a Good Samaritan called police for help.
"This is an abducted 2-year-old – and the response was that there's nothing they can do, that's what they require, and that's their policy," Covelli said.
The family car was found soon afterward, ditched a few blocks away.
"When it's a life-or-death situation, I think that's a time to bend the rules," Covelli said.
In a statement, Volkswagen said:
"Volkswagen takes the safety and security of its customers very seriously. Our thoughts are with the victims and their family.
"Volkswagen has a procedure in place with a third-party provider for Car-Net Support Services involving emergency requests from law enforcement. They have executed this process successfully in previous incidents.
"Unfortunately, in this instance, there was a serious breach of the process. We are addressing the situation with the parties involved."
"In a different situation though, this could have resulted in a much different outcome with that delay," Covelli said.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart has brought up concerns about this exact situation before – dealing with a lag time with automakers handing over tracking information to law enforcement from stolen cars.
The Lake County Sheriff's Department is still looking for at least two suspects who are responsible for the carjacking and abduction Thursday.
