A motorist fatally struck a 45-year-old male pedestrian in Englewood Tuesday night, left the scene, and then turned herself into the police.
According to the Chicago Police Department, at around 6:05 p.m. motorist Deja Newman, 24, was heading east on the 800 block of West 74th Street. When she turned south onto Halsted Street, she struck the pedestrian.
The victim was transported to Christ Medical Center in suburban Oak Lawn and was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. As of this afternoon, his name had not been released, pending notification of kin.
Police said that Newman drove away from the crash without aiding the victim, but eventually turned herself in to the 6th District police headquarters. She was arrested and charged with failing to render aid and driving without insurance, which are misdemeanors. Newman was also issued a citation for failure to take due care for a person in the roadway.
Update 9/11/17: The victim has been identified as Oldrich V. Vitek of Albany Park.
Fatality Tracker: 2017 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths
Pedestrian: 29
Bicyclist: 2
Note: Streetsblog Chicago’s traffic death numbers represent fatal crashes on Chicago streets. The pedestrian count above is based on Chicago Police Department data for January through July released by the Chicago Department of Transportation, plus media reports for August. In addition to the on-street bike fatalities, on June 24 a cyclist was riding on a CTA train platform when he fell on the tracks and was fatally struck.
