Vigil planned for fallen cyclist Adé Hogue on Tuesday 6 PM at Grand and LFT

Update 11/2/21, 8:15 AM: There will be a ghost bike memorial installation and vigil for Adé Hogue today, organized by Bike Lane Uprising, at 6 p.m. in Jane Addams Park at the northeast corner of Grand Avenue and the Lakefront Trail.

Read more about Hogue's life and remembrances from friends and colleagues in a new Block Club Chicago piece.

Update 11/1/21, 2:15 PM: The witness identified below as "the second female witness," a Northwestern Hospital emergency room psychologist who said she was driving west in the northernmost lane of Grand Avenue when the crash occurred, wrote Streetsblog today asking to provide more information about some aspects of the incident. Here is her message from today.

Update 10/31/21, 11 AM: Half Acre Cycling announced on Twitter Saturday night at about 8 p.m. that the victim, team member Broderick Adé Hogue, had died from his injuries. "We are absolutely heartbroken to update you all that Adé’s time with us has come to an end. Adé embodied everything we love about cycling and we know his presence will be felt for many years to come. Ride in Power Adé.”

According to the Cook County medical examiner's office, Hogue passed away on Friday, October 29, shortly before 5 p.m.

Update 10/29/21, 2:30 PM: The crash victim has been publicly identified as Half Acre Cycling team member Broderick Adé Hogue, who works in art direction, design, and lettering. (His name was listed on the crash report, but Streetsblog chose not to identify him for privacy reasons.) A GoFundMe page has been launched to help cover medical and logistical expenses and has raised over $37,600 in just a few hours. 

On the GoFundMe page, Hogue's childhood friend Chris Wyatt wrote that Hogue is still in intensive care in a coma. "I know Adé is beloved by so many who want to help... Please pray for healing and comfort for him and his family."

Broderick Adé Hogue, 32, who was bicycling last night near the Lakefront Trail and Navy Pier on the Near North Side when a driver struck him while heading towards a DuSable Lake Shore Drive on-ramp, was in critical condition with a brain bleed.

According to the Chicago Police Department, at about 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 27, Hogue was biking west on Grand Avenue towards the shoreline highway. Sight lines are poor at this intersection due to the presence of a high wall at the base of Lake Point Tower, at the southeast corner, making it difficult for road users on Grand and Lower DLSD to see each other.

The 47-year-old female driver of a 2020 Honda van was traveling northbound onto Lower DLSD towards the ramp leading to the drive proper when she struck Hogue, police said.

Hogue, who lives on the 700 block of West Ohio Street in the West Town community, was taken to Northwestern Hospital in critical condition and treated for a brain bleed, according to the crash report. His bicycle was inventoried and held for investigation.

The driver, who lives in the West Ridge community was uninjured, according to the crash report. Her vehicle had to be towed due to damage. She was not given a field sobriety test due to responding officers not observing any signs of impairment, and she was not cited.

According to the crash report, the responding officers were met by "multiple witnesses" and the van driver, who all said that the driver had a green light and Hogue ran a red. Four witnesses are listed on the report, including a 44-year old woman who lives near the crash site in River North; a man, 26, who lives in suburban Hometown, Illinois; a 36-year-old woman whose address was not listed; and a man, 37, whose address was unlisted. The last two witness called a police station at about 10:45 p.m. and said they were both in the same ride-hail vehicle when they saw the incident, but were unable to stop and wait for police, so they called the station when they had a chance.

The crash report states that the crash was captured on a nearby Police Observation Device camera.

Local bike case attorney Brendan Kevenides from FK Law (a Streetsblog Chicago sponsor) objected to a brief writeup of the case in the Chicago Sun-Times (the Chicago Tribune's writeup was nearly identical) that noted police said the victim ran the stoplight.

Reached by phone, the female witness from the ride-hail vehicle said that she and her fiancé were returning from a boat cruise from Navy Pier and were right behind the van driver when the crash occurred. Although she was looking at her her phone at the time and only saw the impact out of the corner of the eye, she said the man fully witnessed the collision. (He was not available to talk due to a death in the family.) The male witness told the female witness northbound traffic had a yellow light at the time, while westbound traffic had a red. He said the Hogue, who was cycling on the sidewalk, was in a crosswalk when he was struck.

"It was a pretty intense strike," the female witness told Streetsblog, adding that Hogue flew through the air. The ride-hail driver screamed and immediately pulled over to offer aid, she said. A doctor, who had been in the the vicinity, also stopped to help.

The head of the cyclist, who was wearing a helmet, was in a pool of blood, and he was bleeding from the nose, the female witness said, adding that his knees were badly skinned. The doctor appeared to move Hogue's head slightly to relieve pressure on his neck. The witness said she and the driver kneeled nearby and prayed for the victim. "[The driver] was inconsolable, crying and rocking back and forth. It was a very intense moment."

The female witness said an ambulance arrived quickly, at which point her ride-hail driver asked to leave the scene. After processing the incident for a couple of hours, the couple realized that they hadn't told their story to the authorities and "we wanted to bear witness in case we were needed," so they called 311.

The other female witness, who lives near the crash site, told Streetsblog a somewhat different account of what happened. She said she was driving home westbound on Grand in the far right lane and waiting at the red light, and Hogue was to her right, but he was in the street, not on the sidewalk. "He seemed to be a very experienced cyclist. He was wearing a helmet and had a flashing headlight and reflectors."

The second female witness said Hogue was "about 90 percent" of the way through the intersection when the van driver struck him. "She hit him so hard, the poor guy flew through the air like a rag doll and ended up on the on-ramp." The second witness pulled over and blocked the ramp with her car to keep other motorists from striking the cyclist.

"It's hard to say who's really at fault," the second witness said. "I don't know how she didn't see him. It was a very strange situation."

The 26-year-old male witness told Streetsblog he was driving west on Grand to pick up his wife from work, and was in the lane to the left of the second female witness waiting at the red when the incident occurred. Like the first female witness, he said Hogue was on the sidewalk, and like the second witness he said the cyclist had on a helmet and had a flashing headlight, adding that he was wearing bike clothing and appeared to be on an expensive cycle.

The male witness also said Hogue was most of the way through the intersection, which appeared to be clear, when he was struck. "It happened so fast. The van just shot out of nowhere."

Fatality Tracker: 2021 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets

Pedestrian: 18
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.