On Thursday, Dec. 8, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced that a Dolton man had been sentenced to 34 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for hijacking at gunpoint a Chevy Camaro from a man in May, 2020, and robbing an Addison gas station at gunpoint in March, 2020.
On August 25, 2022, James T. Kimbrough, 25, formerly of the 700 block of E. 147th Street in Chicago, entered a blind plea of guilty to one count of Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking (Class X Felony) and one count of Armed Robbery (Class X Felony). At his sentencing hearing, Judge Daniel Guerin sentenced Kimbrough to 34 years on each count. Kimbrough’s sentences will be served concurrently to each other and will also be served concurrently to a 15-year sentence he received out of Cook County for Armed Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon. On May 13, 2020, Kimbrough appeared in Bond Court where the Court granted the State’s motion to deny bond. He has been held in custody at the DuPage County Jail since that date.
On May 11, 2020, at approximately 11:50 p.m., officers with the Addison Police Department responded to an aggravated vehicular hijacking. Following an investigation led by the Addison Police Department, it was determined that the victim was sitting in his car outside his residence talking on the phone when he observed a white colored sedan drive by slowly. A short while later, a man, later identified as Kimbrough, approached the driver’s side window and asked if he could borrow the victim’s cellular phone. The victim declined but ultimately changed his mind and told Kimbrough he could speak using the in-car Bluetooth system. After Kimbrough attempted to make three phone calls, he pointed a gun at the victim and ordered him out of the car. The victim complied at which time Kimbrough entered the car and drove off at a high rate of speed.
Later that evening, the Darien Police Department and the Illinois State Police conducted a felony stop on the vehicle at a gas station in Summit as Kimbrough entered the vehicle. The vehicle, however, was disabled by using OnStar and Kimbrough was taken into custody at this time. Officers recovered a firearm from the vehicle.
Further investigation into Kimbrough found that on March 29, 2020, at approximately 2:45 a.m., Kimbrough, who as wearing a mask at the time, was involved in an armed robbery at a Marathon Gas Station in Addison during which Kimbrough kicked his way into a secured area where the clerk was working and stole money and cigars.
“Over a two-month period during the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Mr. Kimbrough violently terrorized the citizens and businesses of Addison,” Berlin said. “This morning, he learned that thanks to the outstanding, cooperative efforts of multiple law enforcement agencies, his criminal behavior will not go unpunished.
‘I commend the Addison Police Department for their truly outstanding police work on both cases against Mr. Kimbrough. Their professionalism and dedication to protecting the public put a quick end to Mr. Kimbrough’s escalating criminal behavior.”
