Abdel F. Mohd Jr., 27, of Oak Forest, Illinois, has been charged in Lake Superior Court following a Hammond Police Department investigation into the alleged theft of a Hammond woman’s vehicle.
According to court documents, the investigation began after a man driving a flatbed tow truck went to a home in the 1100 block of Cherry Street on March 25, 2026, and asked the owner if she wanted to sell her red 2004 Pontiac Grand Am. The woman told him several times she was not interested in selling the vehicle. The following day, the man returned and purchased the neighbor’s van. While the victim was at work, police allege her Pontiac Grand Am was also taken without her permission.
The woman told police she initially believed her mechanic may have picked up the vehicle, so she waited until the following day to report it stolen after discovering the repair shop was closed. Investigators later determined license plate reader technology captured the Pontiac being transported on the back of a flatbed tow truck at approximately 4:32 p.m. on March 26 while traveling south on Calumet Avenue.
The victim later contacted investigators after seeing a Region News Source Facebook post about a man arrested in Hammond who was accused of stealing vehicles using a tow truck. She told police she was not initially certain the man pictured was the same person because the photograph showed him with a beard and mustache. However, her neighbor, who had sold a van to the same man, told investigators she immediately recognized him from the Region News Source post.
Court documents state detectives later obtained surveillance images from a Chicago Heights recycling facility that allegedly showed both the victim’s Pontiac Grand Am and the neighbor’s Dodge Caravan arriving on the same flatbed tow truck. Investigators said the images showed Abdel Mohd at the facility, and records confirmed the Pontiac’s vehicle identification number matched the vehicle reported stolen in Hammond.
Charge Filed July 10, 2026:
- Level 6 Felony Auto Theft – Theft of an Entire Motor Vehicle.
