Alleged Orland Red Lobster BB Gun Carjacker Gets Trial Date

By Joseph Hosey

A woman charged in connection with a BB gun carjacking outside the Orland Park Red Lobster is set to go on trial in August.

April Schmidt, 23, appeared briefly at the Bridgeview courthouse and was given her trial date by Cook County Judge John Joseph Hynes.

While Schmidt is on the hook for carjacking, a Homer Glen man actually carried out the crime—allegedly with some help from her.

Schmidt allegedly waited in some bushes for the man, 24-year-old Jonathan Sarolas, to menace a Red Lobster employee with a BB gun, then grab the woman's keys and purse and commandeer her car.

Schmidt then allegedly burst out of the bushes and jumped into the car with Sarolas, who she was dating at the time. The two fled but Schmidt was captured at the end of a police chase and Sarolas was arrested in the following days.

Sarolas pleaded guilty in February and got 12 years in prison. During his sentencing, he said Schmidt bought the black Beretta BB gun he used in the carjacking. She picked the BB gun up from the Sports Authority in Orland Hills after the two were unable to purchase one at a nearby Dick's Sporting Goods.

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