Posted on 09/21/2026 3:27:09 PM PDT by george76
A veteran Chicago police dispatcher was pinned inside her wrecked car, with nine broken ribs and two fractured vertebrae, when a man climbed into the back seat and stole her driver’s license and credit cards, prosecutors say. The man’s girlfriend then got into the front seat and began patting the injured victim’s waistline, apparently looking for more valuables.
Victoria Mesarina, a dispatcher with the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications for 26 years, was driving home in uniform when another vehicle slammed into the driver’s side of her car in the 3300 block of West Douglas Boulevard around 2:30 p.m. July 3. The other driver ran away, leaving Mesarina trapped in the damaged vehicle. A bystander let her use his phone to call 911, but the wreckage and her injuries kept her from getting out, according to court records.
While Mesarina remained trapped, waiting for first responders, prosecutors said, 25-year-old James Nelson climbed into the back seat, opened her purse and took a black coin purse containing her driver’s license and various debit, credit and gift cards. When Mesarina asked what he was doing, Nelson’s girlfriend, Mahogany Vann, 24, allegedly got into the front passenger seat and began feeling around Mesarina’s waistline as if searching for something.
Nelson and Vann fled as sirens approached. Chicago firefighters extricated Mesarina from the wreckage and took her to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she soon learned that two of her debit cards were being used at a gas station in the 500 block of South California Avenue, according to prosecutors. Police also obtained surveillance video from a BP station at Roosevelt Road and Independence Boulevard showing Nelson getting out of a Jeep registered to Vann and making a purchase shortly after Mesarina’s cards were stolen.
In a helpful coincidence, about 90 minutes after the crash, CPD pulled Vann over for a routine traffic stop. Nelson, who was standing nearby at his mother’s house, was “yelling profanity at the officers” as they conducted the stop, prosecutors said. Vann allegedly became irate and verbally abusive when police asked for her driver’s license, prompting them to order her out of the car. That’s when the cops allegedly found Mesarina’s driver’s license and Chime card on the Jeep’s floorboard, along with several other cards stolen from the victim’s purse. But the officers didn’t yet know the items were stolen, so they let Vann go.
However, the traffic stop was captured on body camera, and the footage later proved crucial. Detectives noticed Vann was wearing the same clothing and had the same distinctive hairstyle described by Mesarina. When detectives circulated photographs of two suspects from the BP station, one of the officers from the stop recognized Vann, prosecutors said. Police later put Nelson in a photo lineup, and Mesarina identified him as the man who had climbed into her back seat. Both Nelson and Vann are charged with unlawful vehicular invasion, burglary and unlawful possession of credit cards.
Judge Luciano Panici Jr. denied prosecutors’ request to detain Nelson while the case proceeds and instead released him on electronic monitoring. Prosecutors did not file a detention petition in Vann’s case.
Last month, Mesarina told NBC Chicago that police found the owner of the car that struck her. He claimed that his vehicle was stolen when it hit her. She is skeptical.
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Chicagoans, Yogi?
Imagine that...
Life in Chicongo. Need more social workers.
Judge Luciano Panici Jr. denied prosecutors’ request to detain Nelson while the case proceeds and instead released him on electronic monitoring.
The piece of excrement judge that says FU to all Chicagoans . Smile you POS , perhaps a thug will impact his life enough to wipe that shit eating grin off of his face.
String them up.
Who’s worse..the bumbling cops or the lenient stupid judge?...sadly,there is a community that is reinforcing every sterotype.
Things m8ght change if it was his wife or dtr impacted.
More feral freaks from Chicago?
When I lived in Houston I worked at a petrochemical plant near the downtown area. I worked with a guy whose wife had just had a baby and they only had one car so when the time came for her to go back to work he started riding his bicycle to work in the morning when it was still dark. The very first day he got run down and killed and the police couldn’t identify him until his wife contacted them that night because all his personal belongings had been stolen. I am absolutely certain they ran over and killed him on purpose just to steal his stuff.
I think this would be a wonderful opportunity to pause for a moment and give thanks for the great contributions of the black community to our society.
Their peaceful and generous nature makes them ideal neighbors, lending testimony to their exceptional family values and parenting skills unrivaled by any other culture.
Their child-rearing practices and skills mixed with their unparalleled work ethic are second to none.
Their rationale and logical thought toward circumstances coupled with their innate capability to de-escalate situations is to be envied and coveted.
Their commitment to academic excellence enriches our schools and serves as an example to all who hope to achieve prominence as a people.
Real estate values are fueled by the mix of African-Americans into an area due to their caring and respectful nature of these communities, an example of all they have achieved through their enthusiasm for self-improvement, hard work and a self-reliant nature.
Without their industrious and creative drive, we would be poorer as a nation.🥱
It sounds like she was T-boned. Was the t-boning deliberate, or accidental and the robbery a depraved act of opportunity?
Victoria Mesarina missed her opportunity for a couple weeks-placed melon shots.
He’s got a purdy mouth.
I just want to cuss SO BAD…..
I just want to cuss SO BAD…..
Typical savages.
Yes the judge is a piece of crap but much of this can be laid at the carcass of Governor Fatass Pritzker and his Safe T act that pretty much does not allow any bail requirements for almost any felony crimes.
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