Pedestrian Killed in Hit-and-Run on Avondale’s Polish Business Strip

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Driver's viewpoint of the crash site. This image was taken in October 2011, before continental crosswalks were striped.

Around midnight on Saturday night, a 51-year-old pedestrian was killed on the 3000 block of North Milwaukee by a driver who fled the scene, police said. This block, in the Avondale neighborhood, is dense with businesses catering to Polish immigrants.

The victim, identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office as Ronald Lee Hubert, was crossing Milwaukee eastbound on Ridgeway in the crosswalk, according to a witness. The driver of a southbound SUV, taveling “at a high rate of speed” struck Hubert and then continued driving, according to Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zavala.

The intersection is unsignalized, and the crossing was recently marked as a high-visibility, zebra-striped, “continental” crosswalk. Obviously, the driver violated the state law requiring motorists to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk.

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Continental crosswalks are visible in this more recent image.

The victim was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center and was pronounced dead at 1:10 a.m., according to the medical examiner’s office. An autopsy showed that Hubert died of multiple injuries from the crash, which was ruled to be accidental.

The vehicle is a black Chevrolet Suburban with blue lights, according to a witness. No one was in custody as of this morning and the Major Accidents Investigation Unit is looking into the case, Zavala said.

Fatality Tracker: 2013 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths

Pedestrian: 11 (10 were from hit-and-run crashes, 2 in truck crashes)
Bicyclist: 2