Chicago DUI Lawyer Blog

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.

22-year-old, Doreen Cardenas, and a 22-year-old man she was with were rushed to the hospital after being struck by a car in an early morning hit and run in North Aurora. Cardenas was pronounced dead at Provena-Mercy Hospital at 2:35 a.m. The man remained hospitalized but his condition was not made available.

The couple were standing outside the driver’s side of Cardena’s parked 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier when a vehicle allegedly side-swiped the car and struck them. A bystander found the two victims lying in the street at 42 S Grant Street.

At approximately 5 a.m., Lee Roy Patterson, a 30-year-old Aurora man, walked into the Aurora Police department and turned himself in. Patterson has been charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving a death, an additional count of leaving the scene where a person was injured, and failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident. Patterson faces a Class 1 felony which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.