A 26-year-old Aurora man, currently on probation for delivery of cocaine, is in custody after being accused of beating a 69-year-old man and attempting to carjack five different vehicles Wednesday morning.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Aurora Chief of Police Matt Thomas announced yesterday that Judge Joshua Dieden granted the State’s motion to detain the suspect pre-trial. The suspect was charged with one count of Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking (a Class X Felony); one count of Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (a Class 2 Felony); one count of Attempted Vehicular Hijacking (a Class 2 Felony); two counts of Aggravated Battery (a Class 3 Felony); one count of Attempted Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle (a Class 3 Felony); one count of Attempt Burglary (a Class 3 Felony); Aggravated Battery in a Public Place and one count of Armed Robbery with a Firearm (a Class X Felony).
According to police, at approximately 7:30am Wednesday Aurora police officers responded to a call of a disturbance at the Quality Inn located at 4005 Gabrielle Lane. Officers learned that the victim, a sixty-nine-year-old man, was walking from the hotel to his truck, which he had started remotely. After reaching his truck, the victim was allegedly approached by the suspect, who asked him for a ride. The victim declined and began walking back towards the hotel to alert staff, while the suspect entered a sedan parked near the entrance of the hotel.
It is alleged that while the victim was in the hotel, the suspect exited the sedan and approached a Dodge Durango parked nearby that had also been remotely started and attempted to open the driver’s side door. He then returned to the sedan, retrieved an ice scraper, returned to the Durango and cleared ice from the Durango’s windshield. He then picked up a parking sign from behind the Durango and repeatedly struck the driver’s side door, breaking off the side mirror.
When the owner of the Durango and another hotel patron confronted the suspect, he returned to the victim’s still-running truck and entered the driver’s seat. When the victim attempted to pull him from his truck, he exited the truck and punched the victim about the head multiple times, after which he reentered the truck and attempted to drive forward with the front driver’s side door open as the victim continued to attempt to pull him from the vehicle. As the struggle continued, the vehicle rolled forward, before stopping in the center aisle of the parking lot.
The suspect then ran from the truck back to the Durango, which was occupied, and pulled at the driver’s side door handle, which was locked. He returned to the victim’s truck where he struggled with the victim a second time as he tried to reenter the truck before he fled on foot.
While on foot, the suspect ran in front of a passing vehicle, causing the vehicle to stop, and reached into the front window and grabbed the driver’s shirt, at which time the driver drove away. The suspect also opened the door of a garbage truck collecting trash, grabbed the hood of the worker’s jacket and attempted, unsuccessfully, to enter the truck.
Chandler was located in a nearby apartment complex and, following a brief struggle, taken into custody.
“The carjacking and beating of an innocent man and subsequent attempted carjacking of another, as alleged in this case, will not be tolerated in DuPage County,” Berlin said. “This type of violent behavior turned a routine morning into a terrifying ordeal for several innocent people, shattering their sense of safety and leaving an entire community on edge. [The suspect] is facing serious felony charges that carry a possible penalty of up to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.”
The suspect’s next court date is scheduled for February 17, 2026, in front of Judge Mia McPherson.
