Female police officer facing felony charges after firing on thieves who stole her vehicle

An off-duty Chicago police officer is facing felony charges after reportedly shooting at thieves who allegedly stole her SUV.

What are the details?

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, 58-year-old Oneta Sampson Carney opened fire Saturday on car thieves who stole her Toyota 4Runner while she and her husband were loading groceries into their vehicle at an area Sam's Club.

In a report, prosecutors said that three male suspects approached Carney and her husband while they placed bags into their vehicle's trunk as the incident began to unfold.

Two approached Carney and her husband and asked if they could help with the groceries when the third suspect jumped into the couple's SUV and sped away through the parking lot. The other two suspects ran off on foot as Sampson and her husband gave chase.

The driver then reportedly stopped as one of the other suspects gained ground on the SUV, and that's when Carney reportedly fired a single shot using a 9mm handgun.

The bullet was said to have struck the ground behind the SUV as its driver continued to flee.

All suspects were able to escape without further contact.

Carney then called 911 to report the theft, but did not report that she'd discharged her weapon until responding officers arrived at the scene.

At the time of Carney's purported shooting, children and other people were present in the parking lot, and a second vehicle was driving down the same aisle in the lot, prosecutors said.

"The officer gave chase to the vehicle on foot and fired one round from her firearm at the fleeing vehicle," a spokesperson for the Evergreen Park police said in a statement, according to WGN-TV.

Authorities charged Carney — a sergeant who is described as a 19-year veteran of the police force — with a single count of reckless discharge of a firearm and held her on $5,000 bail during her Sunday court hearing.

Carney's attorney did not respond to the Sun-Times' request for comment.

What else?

The SUV was later recovered Saturday night in the Loop, a Chicago Police Department source told the outlet.

The report noted that Chicago police later reported that officers saw a Toyota 4Runner that matched the description of Carney's stolen vehicle.

"The 4Runner ultimately came to a stop about 8:35 p.m. after rear-ending another vehicle in the 200 block of West Wacker Drive," the report noted. "Six suspects, including a 26-year-old man and five juveniles, were then taken into custody after attempting to flee."

WGN's report added that four of the five youths were charged with criminal trespass to a vehicle, and one male juvenile was charged with possessing a stolen motor vehicle, aggravated fleeing and eluding, and disobeying a red light.