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The victim was fatally struck just south of the Aberdeen Tap.
Shane Stokowski, 33, was killed Saturday while trying to prevent a fellow bar patron from driving drunk, according to Officer Michael Sullivan from Police News Affairs. Stokowski, of the 3500 block of West Altgeld in Logan Square, had been hanging out with friends at the Aberdeen Tap, 440 North Aberdeen in West Town, when another patron left the bar intoxicated and planning to drive away. Police have not released the driver’s name, pending charges from the state’s attorney’s office, but Sullivan said it was a 42-year-old man.
Stokowski followed the man and attempted to keep him from leaving in his black SUV. Just before 5 p.m., Stokowski reached into the truck, trying to prevent the driver from taking off, and the perpetrator hit the gas, dragging him, Sullivan said. When the victim fell from the truck just south of the bar, a second motorist struck him.
Stokowski was transported to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly at 5:18 p.m. An autopsy performed Sunday found that he died of head injuries, and his death was classified as a homicide.
The second driver stayed on the scene and has not been charged, but the SUV driver fled. Police were able to track him down via his license plate number and apprehended him at 9:55 that evening on the 2100 block of West Superior, which is not where he resides, Sullivan said.
According to an NBC report, Stokowski worked as a graphic artist at Emmi Solutions, where cofounder Jordan Dolin described him as "an incredibly talented and creative soul” who was “as nice a guy as you can imagine” and “always upbeat.” Stokowski was engaged to be married.
Updated March 25, 5 p.m.
The alleged drunk driver has been identified as Timothy McShane. He was charged today with with one count of aggravated DUI causing death, one count of failure to report an accident and one count of reckless homicide, which are felonies, plus two counts of driving on a suspended license, which is a misdemeanor. He had two previous DUI convictions.
Fatality Tracker: 2014 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths
Pedestrian: 4 (3 were hit-and-run crashes)
Bicyclist: 0
