Peoria Standard

Victor Farris, aged 46, has pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated vehicular hijacking and kidnapping after stealing a vehicle with a young child inside last summer. The incident occurred on September 4, 2024, at Enterprise Car Rental on Pioneer Parkway in Peoria.

Police responded to the scene following reports of a stolen vehicle with a three-year-old child inside. Officers spoke with the child's uncle, who was picking up a rental car. The uncle had placed the child in the back seat and was sitting in the driver's seat when approached by Farris. Dressed in business attire, Farris claimed to work for Enterprise and instructed the uncle to return inside the store. As soon as the uncle stepped out of the vehicle, Farris drove off with the child still inside.

The theft triggered a county-wide search for both the missing child and vehicle. Although Farris managed to evade capture initially and traveled by train to Iowa, he was arrested 12 days later. Fortunately, shortly after taking the car, Farris left the child unharmed at a gas station in Bartonville.

Farris has been sentenced to serve 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for aggravated vehicular hijacking and seven years for kidnapping; both sentences will run concurrently.