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Allegedly speeding Mercedes driver killed wheelchair user Marvin Brown, 84, in Englewood

12:04 PM CST on December 24, 2020

The 900 block of West 63rd Street. Image: Google Maps

The driver of a Mercedes truck fatally struck Marvin Brown, 84, in his wheelchair Monday, December 21, in Englewood, reportedly at a high rate of speed, but wasn't ticketed for speeding.

According to the Chicago Police Department, at about 11:40 a.m. Brown, who lived on the 6300 block of South Sangamon Street, was crossing the street northbound in the 900 block of West 63rd Street. The motorist, a 29-year-old man, was traveling eastbound at a high rate of speed when he struck the senior, according to some witnesses.

When officers arrived on the scene, Brown was conscious, but had suffered a head injury, and his wheelchair was damaged, according to police. He was taken to the University of Chicago Hospitals, and pronounced dead two hours later.

An autopsy determined that Brown died of multiple injuries from the crash, which was ruled accidental, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The driver, who stayed at the scene, was citied for failure to yield to a pedestrian in the roadway, but was not ticketed for speeding, police said. "Officers weren't present when this [crash] took place so they have conflicting stories from the witnesses and the driver," said a police spokesperson. "No way to prove he was speeding."

Fatality Tracker: 2020 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets

Pedestrian: 32
Bicyclist: 8

Note: Streetsblog Chicago’s traffic death numbers represent fatal crashes on Chicago surface streets, based on media reports and/or preliminary Chicago Police Department data released by the Chicago Department of Transportation.

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