A Wisconsin man has been sentenced to five years in prison for carjacking a woman near Mundelein and crashing the stolen car in Volo, leaving himself critically injured.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office received a call around 1 a.m. on March 4, 2022, for a report of a street sign that had been knocked down into the roadway at Route 60 and Route 120 in Volo.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said at the time that a deputy responded and located an entire traffic light pole on the ground.
The deputy found a Chrysler PT Cruiser approximately 1,000 feet off the roadway north of the intersection. The Chrysler had major damage and was unoccupied.
Covelli said the deputy checked the area and found the driver, Gary L. Hollis Jr., 32, of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on the ground and unconscious.
Shortly after deputies arrived at the crash scene, a 48-year-old Round Lake Beach woman reported she had been carjacked in the area of Route 60 and Erhart Road in unincorporated Mundelein.
A further investigation revealed the 48-year-old woman had pulled over to assist who she thought was a stranded motorist.
When she pulled over, Hollis forcefully pulled her out of her Chrysler PT Cruiser and fled in her car, Covelli said.
The Chrysler totaled in the Volo crash was determined to be the victim’s vehicle.
The unconscious ejected driver matched the description of the man who carjacked the victim.
A crash investigation revealed the suspect driving the stolen Chrysler was traveling northwest on Route 60 at a high rate of speed.
As Hollis approached Route 120, he failed to negotiate the curve in the roadway and lost control, Covelli said.
The Chrysler struck the traffic standard and rolled over several times, leaving the man ejected.
Hollis was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville in “extremely critical condition,” Covelli said.
A warrant charging Hollis with vehicular hijacking was obtained in April 2022.
Hollis had been receiving rehabilitation for an extended period of time following the crash and surrendered on the warrant in June 2023.
Court records show he entered into a negotiated plea deal with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office last month.
Hollis pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular hijacking, a Class 1 felony, in exchange for being sentenced to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC).
He will receive 166 days of credit for time served in the jail. The prison sentence will be served at 50% in accordance with truth-in-sentencing guidelines.
IDOC records show Hollis is projected to be paroled in December 2025.