Distracted driver killed Peter Paquette, 75, hours after nearby safe streets rally

Content warning: This post includes a graphic description of a fatal crash.

On Sunday morning, hundreds of people gathered in Lincoln Square for the Walk + Roll for Safe Streets, a rally to honor Rafi Cardenas, 2, and Lily Shambrook, 3, toddlers killed by motorists this month, and demand action to prevent heartbreak.

Just a few hours later, a mile south of the starting point for that demonstration, where Rafi was struck by an SUV driver, another person was lost to traffic violence. A distracted driver fatally struck longtime 47th Ward volunteer Peter Paquette, 75, at Irving Park Road and Hoyne Avenue in North Center.

According to police, at 3:15 p.m. Paquette was walking south on Hoyne across Irving Park in a crosswalk. The road has a wide five-lane layout that encourages speeding, and there is no stoplight or pedestrian island at Hoyne.

A 30-year-old man was driving a Nissan Altima sedan east on Irving Park when he struck Paquette. The senior, who lived on the 4800 block of North Leavitt Street, about a block north of the starting point for the safe street rally, was transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:40 p.m.

The driver was cited for failure to exercise due care for a pedestrian in the roadway, and driving an uninsured vehicle.

The traffic crash report provides more details about what happened. "[The driver] related to the responding officers that he was traveling east on Irving Park Road and took his eyes off the road for a moment because he was distracted by an event that happened at 2100 W. Irving Park Rd.," the address of O'Donovan's tavern.

The crash report states that Paquette was partially thrown through the windshield of the sedan, causing a skull fracture. When he was taken to the hospital, he was in grave condition, and he later went into cardiac arrest.

The driver underwent blood and urine DUI tests, the report states.

47th Ward alderperson Matt Martin, who spoke at that morning's demonstration, tweeted a thread about Paquette death that evening, saying that the senior had just left an early voting rally that Martin also attended. "I am devastated."

Martin said Paquette was a longtime ward volunteer, who helped donated deliver coats and shoes to local service providers, and called seniors to invite them to the free annual Songs of Good Cheer concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music. "More importantly, he was a kind and compassionate spouse, friend, and neighbor – someone who was deeply invested in his family and in our community, and who believed passionately in holding government accountable so that it could better serve the public."

The alder said he knows first-hand how risky it can feel to walk across Irving Park Road. "My office will continue working to ensure that future improvements to pedestrian, bike, and public transportation infrastructure —not just throughout our Ward but throughout all of Chicago—are holistic, systemic, and better designed to ensure safe streets for all."

Paquette's obituary states, "Peter will always be remembered as having compassion for others and volunteer work in his local community of Lincoln Square, He was a champion of those less fortunate and believed strongly in helping all those who need it. He was a lifelong learner, a lover of literature and theatre, and had a passion for politics. He was active in his local parish Queen of Apostles. He was a Chicago sports fan…if they were winning. He had a great sense of humor and the best laugh."

In lieu of flowers, Paquette's family is requesting that donations be made to the advocacy group Better Streets Chicago, which helped organize the Walk + Roll.

Irving Park has seen multiple crashes this year, including the killing of Navy veteran Timothy Kast, 46, who was fatally struck while crossing the street on May 19 while crossing the 5300 block of the road, four miles west of Paquette's crash site, by a drunk motorcycle rider. Many of the collisions have been hit-and-runs

The woman's car careened onto the sidewalk at the northwest corner of Foster and Clark, striking a 29-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man. Both victims were transported to Illinois Masonic Hospital in critical condition. A 37-year-old riding in the woman's car was taken into custody for an outstanding warrant. As of Tuesday morning, police had no updates on whether the driver had been cited or charged.

Fatality Tracker: 2022 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets

Pedestrian: 15
Bicyclist: 4

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.

2022 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases (including one scooter-on-sidewalk case)

• On June 12, 2022, a distracted Nissan Altima sedan driver fatally struck Peter Paquette, 75, at Irving Park Road and Hoyne Avenue in North Center.
• On June 2, 2022, an SUV driver struck and killed 2-year-old Raphael “Rafi” Cardenas at Eastwood Avenue and Leavitt Street in Lincoln Square as the toddler rode a mini-scooter into the intersection.
• On May 27, 2022, a hit-and-run SUV driver fatally struck Martha Velazquez, 34, on the 2900 block of West Columbus Avenue in Ashburn.
• On May 19, 2022, a motorcyclist fatally struck Timothy Kast, 46, as he crossed the 5300 block of West Irving Park Road in Portage Park.
• On May 11, 2022, a BMW sedan driver struck and killed 82-year-old Concepcion Lopez, as she waited at a CTA bus stop on the 2100 block of West Peterson in West Ridge.
• On May 10, 2022, a left-turning van driver failed to yield to failed to yield to Berta Arroyo Salgado, 73, as she crossed the street in a crosswalk at Chicago Avenue and Paulina Street in West Town, killing the senior.
• On May 6, 2022, a Cadillac sedan driver ran a red light at Roosevelt Road and Damen Avenue on the Near West Side, struck another vehicle, and careened onto the sidewalk, killing a 33-year-old man.
• On April 18, 2022, a left-turning sedan driver fatally struck Yehuala Melkama, 44, as she walked in a crosswalk at Hazel and Sunnyside avenues in Uptown.
• On March 27, 2022, an SUV driver struck and killed Larry J. Davis, 68, at 3350 S. Kedzie Ave. in Little Village.
• On March 17, 2022, a left-turning driver struck and killed Miriam M. Grande, 70, at Grand and Austin avenues in the Belmont Central neighborhood and fled the scene.
• On March 15, 2022, a car driver fatally struck Allen Lee Jr., 88, as he attempted to cross Western Avenue at 109th Street in Morgan Park.
• On February 8, 2022, a Chicago police officer struck Javion Marquel Johnson, 20, with an SUV after Johnson had been shot multiple times, potentially contributing to his death, at 12111 S. Stewart Avenue in Rosehill.
• On January 20, 2022, a hit-and-run driver fatally struck Richard Haljean, 57, as he crossed Touhy Avenue at Oriole Avenue in Edison Park.
• On January 15, 2022 Angel Thomas, 35, was walking to her car on the 4300 block of West Jackson Boulevard in West Garfield Park when an SUV driver fatally struck her and fled.
• On January 12, 2022, an SUV driver struck and killed Deborah Renee Jones, 67, in the 6800 block of South Stony Island in South Shore.

2022 Chicago bike fatality cases

• On June 9, 2022, a semi truck driver ran over and killed Elizabeth “Lily” Grace Shambrook, 3, riding in a child seat on the back of her mother’s bike at Leland and Winthrop avenues in Uptown. The mother was uninjured.
• On May 4, 2022, a Nissan Versa sedan driver fatally struck Nick Parlingayan, 22, on his bike at Milwaukee and Kilbourn avenues in Irving Park.
• On April 16, 2022, an allegedly intoxicated hit-and-run Volkswagen Jetta driver fatally struck Paresh Chhatrala, 42, near Madison and Peoria streets in the West Loop.
• On February 28, 2022, a BMW sedan driver ran a red light at Balbo Drive and DuSable Lake Shore Drive in the Loop, fatally striking Gerardo Marciales, 41, on a Divvy bike.