An 11-year-old River Forest boy won the Outstanding Community Member Award after the River Forest officials were impressed by the actions he took during the hijacking of his mother’s car.
Dominic Schmahl was recognized by the River Forest Village Board at the end of September.
Police Chief Jim O’Shea presented the award. Domini also was sworn in as an honorary junior police officer.
In August, Dominic, his younger brother and the family dog climbed into his mother’s car in front of the home of other family members in the Beverly neighborhood. His mother, Kathryn, was loading the vehicle in preparation to return to River Forest, where they have lived since 2014, when the offender entered the car’s driver’s side seat and took off.
Kathryn said Dominic yelled “What are you doing?” at the offender and started screaming. His mother saw what was happening and started chasing the car, also screaming and shouting, “My kids are in the car. Just let my kids go.”
The driver was accelerating and braking in an attempt to allow three companions to get in, which allowed Kathryn to open the back door on the driver’s side. The driver stopped long enough for Dominic, 6-year-old Drew and Rosie the dog to escape and to allow his three companions to enter. Kathryn was thrown to the street by the offender’s jerky driving and ended up needing stitches to close a cut on her forehead.
When presenting the award, O’Shea cited Dominic’s “great awareness, composure and bravery in the face of danger and uncertainty.”
“This fearless and selfless decision led to Drew, Rosie and yourself being returned to your family safely and without injury,” he said. “Your actions are a credit to your family and the village of River Forest. The Village of River Forest and the River Forest Police Department are proud to have you as a member of our community.”
His mother described Dominic, a sixth grader at Roosevelt School in River Forest, as a “happy kid, a smart kid” who is interested in hockey and soccer.
“He’s just a great kid,” she said. “I’m really proud of him.”
Kathryn said she is experiencing flashbacks and having trouble sleeping, but noted Dominic and Drew “overall have been doing quite well” — although she and Dominic are frightened by loud noises.
“I am trying not to let the experience limit my life,” she said.
Kathryn said the offender and his three companions were seen acting suspiciously in the neighborhood before the carjacking, and speculated that they were “looking for a crime of opportunity,” which turned out to involve her family. Her husband, Andy, and their 9-year-old son, Desmond, had been with them earlier, but had left before the incident occurred.
She said 9-1-1 calls were placed by her mother, who witnessed the incident; a neighbor who also chased the car; and another neighbor, who called because she heard Kathryn screaming so loud that she could be heard inside her house.
She said the Chicago police were “great,” and their swift response led to the offender and his companions being tracked to a gas station several miles asway. Not only did the police use the tracking device on Kathryn’s telephone, which was in the car, but the Chicago police and state police were on a carjacking mission that day, which included the use of a police helicopter that followed the car until it stopped at the gas station.
Kathryn said the four apparently were planning to use her credit cards, which they found in the car, to withdraw cash from an ATM at the gas station when police arrived. They fled in her car but did not get far before they collided with another vehicle. Police arrested all four — two juveniles, an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old – who she said were all charged the next day.
She said they apparently were rifling through the glove compartment of the car and her purse while driving, tossing things out the window while stashing valuables in a backpack.
She said she received a series of telephone calls from Beverly residents reporting finding things that had been tossed out the window and offering to return them. The police also confiscated the backpack.
Kathryn said she and her family have been “helped tremendously” by the support of family and neighbors, from River Forest and from Beverly, where she grew up.
“After this terrible thing happened, I was immediately surrounded by Beverly neighbors,” she said. “We have been absolutely surrounded by love and care.”