Hit-and-run driver in custody after killing male pedestrian on South Side

Police have taken into custody a driver who fatally struck a man walking on the border of the Grand Boulevard and Washington Park communities last night.

On Thursday, March 25, at about 7:35 p.m., the man was crossing the street in a crosswalk on the 100 block of East 51st Street, according to Police News Affairs. The motorist was driving a Lincoln MKS sedan south on Michigan Avenue when he struck the pedestrian. The victim, whose name and age have not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver abandoned the car and fled on foot, police said. According to a CBS Chicago report, police described him as being between 20 and 29 years old, wearing a blue and black jacket with reflective letters, and he was seen walking away from the crash with a slight limp.

The driver has since been taken into custody, and charges were pending as of early Friday afternoon, Police News Affairs said.

Pedestrian: 6
Bicyclist: 1

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.