Articles Posted in Traffic Accident

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Elvis Hernandez, 28, was pronounced dead last week at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago after being hospitalized for over a year resulting form a hit-and-run DUI crash in west suburban Aurora. Hernandez was the passenger of a SUV being driven by his friend David Solis, 28, when the vehicle crashed into the back of a 2009 International 4400 box truck that was stopped in traffic.

Solis allegedly abandoned the SUV with his friend in the front passenger seat at an adjoining gas station and fled the scene on foot. When Aurora police arrived on scene they found Hernandez suffering from major head trauma. Paramedics took Hernandez to Rush Copley Medical Center. Solis returned to the scene 45 minutes after the accident and was arrested after witnesses identified him as the driver. Solis was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, driving on a suspended license and driving without insurance.

Kane County State’s Attorney and Aurora police are working together to pursue upgraded charges against Solis since the death of Hernandez.

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Roel Valle, Lynwood Village Clerk, has been charged with reckless homicide and driving under the influence after a crash that resulted in the death of a Chicago woman.

Melika LIttle, 32, mother of four children, was killed in the crash after Valle allegedly drove his village-owned vehicle the wrong direction on Iliinois Highway 394. Valle collided with a car carrying Little. The driver of the car Little was a passenger in was also charged with DUI.

The Little family has filed a civil suit against the village of Lynwood and Valle. Valle is also facing two felony charges and could be sentenced up to 19 years in prison.

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Cecil R. Conner Jr., 22, is charged with the several counts of aggravated drunk driving for a crash that killed his girlfriend’s 5-year-old son. However, his defense attorney is blaming the Chicago Heights police officer who gave him the keys to the car and allowed him to drive to the police station. En-route to the police station, Conner drove off the road and crashed into a tree.

Prior to the crash, the boys mother Kathie Lafond, was pulled over and taken into custody for driving on a suspended license. The police stated Conner appeared to be sober and that LaFond gave her boyfriend permission to take the car with the child strapped into the booster seat. Conner’s attorney stated that his client was “obviously drunk” but was still ordered to take the car and that the officer threatened to arrest his client if he didn’t leave.

Conner was allegedly driving 75 mph in a 35 mph zone and had a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit.

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Mayor Daley chose ex-CTA vice-president of construction, Pat Harney, to preside over the city’s entire fleet.

Harney, was forced out of his $98K a year job with the CTA after his CTA-owned vehicle rear-ended another vehicle. Harney refused a breath test and was charged with driving under the influence and suspended without pay. Harney resigned from his position two weeks later. He said the incident was a “lapse in judgment and accepted his responsibility.”

Since his 1998 DUI, Harney has held top jobs in Chicago’s Department of Aviation and more recently as first chief deputy of staff overseeing more than $2.2 billion in federal stimulus funds that bankrolled transportation and infrastructure projects throughout the city and created 9,000 jobs.

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20 year old, Francisco Campos, was charged with aggravated DUI resulting in an accidental death, Chicago police said.

Campos was driving a 2003 Ford Explorer SUV that allegedly sped through a stop sign around two in the morning and struck another vehicle driven by Bahara Echmail. Campos’ SUV struck two other parked cars before also hitting a tree. Campos could be facing felony DUI charges.

Echmail, whose Orthodox Christian family fled religious persecution in Iraq about five years before, was pronounced dead at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. His 14 year old sister, Berola, was one of four teens injured in the collision

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Eric Barth, 21, has been charged with six counts of aggravated DUI and accused of causing a three-vehicle crash in Kane County. Barth was driving a Chevy pickup truck when he allegedly veered into the opposite lane of traffic and crashed head-on into a GMC Yukon SUV. A Hyundai Sonata was unable to avoid the collision and crashed into the two vehicles. Investigators believe the icy road conditions may have contributed.

The two occupants of the GMC Yukon – a 64-year-old man and 69-year-old woman – were taken to an Elgin hospital where they were both listed in critical condition. Barth was treated at the hospital and then arrested. The passengers of the Hyundai were treated and released in stable condition.

Barth was also cited with several traffic violations, including driving without a drivers license. His BAC was more than three times the legal limit at .27.

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Brandon Reed, 23, has been charged with misdemeanor DUI after a crash in Chicago that left one female passenger dead and a 4-year-old boy injured. Reed was also ticketed for driving on a revoked license.

Reed was traveling on the 1600 block of West Harrison Street in Chicago when his vehicle crashed into a pole. Passenger Angeline De-Leon, 25, was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital. The 4-year-old boy was taken to Stroger Hospital after going into shock. Reed was also taken to the hospital in critical condition.

According to officials, witnesses allegedly heard the boy yell out of a window, “slow down dad,” shortly before the vehicle crashed. The accident remains under investigation and Chicago Police say the charges against Reed may be upgraded.

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Aileen Beernink faces a potential prison sentence after her third arrest for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol. She is also accused of driving with a revoked or suspended license, driving under the influence of drugs and driving without insurance.

Beernink was spotted by a patrol officer driving with her headlights off. The officer determined she was under the influence of an unspecified narcotic and had an invalid drivers license.

Beernink was previously arrested on June 18 on two counts of DUI and multiple traffic offenses. Court records show she was placed on a year of court supervision and assessed over $2300 in fines and legal cost in that case. She was also arrested in 2008 by Naperville police in separate cases involving drug charges and driving too fast for conditions. Beernink was ticketed in 2009 for driving without headlights and earlier this year for driving too fast for conditions. She is also the defendant in a civil lawsuit filed in August where she is accused of damaging a man’s vehicle during a traffic crash.

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Scott Rossow of Palos Hills was convicted on November 29, 2010 of Aggravated DUI in connection with a one-car collision that killed his two passengers in 2006.

Rossow was allegedly driving in excess of 100 mph on St Francis Road when he left the roadway and hit a tree in the early morning hours of December 8, 2006. Rossow and his two passengers were ejected from the vehicle. Passengers Christopher C. Sommers, a longtime friend and petty officer third class in the U.S. Coast Guard, and Rossow’s step brother, Davis Sauseda, died at the scene.

Rossow’s defense attorney attempted to argue that Rossow was not driving the car. Evidence from a highly technical reconstruction report was used to prove who was responsible for the crash.

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Luis Benito, 17, has been charged with four counts of aggravated DUI and reckless homicide and could face up to 14 years each on the two most serious counts against him. Judge Marzell Richardson set his bond at $1 million dollars.

Benito had allegedly been drinking at a nightclub, Rancho Santa Fe. Shortly before the crash, Benito was seen doing “donuts” in the Bolingbrook nightclub’s parking lot. After a bouncer from Rancho Santa Fe pointed his flashlight at Benito, the teen allegedly drove the 2002 Chevy Blazer directly at him, forcing him to dodge the vehicle.

At around 2:30 a.m., Benito and another passenger headed home, deciding to park between two apartment buildings because the main parking lots were full. However, the SUV allegedly sped through a garden-level apartment window fatally crushing Josephina Prospero. Prospero, 46, who was asleep in her bed was pronounced dead at the scene. Benito’s mother and Prospero worked together at a local hotel and were friends.

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