Tragically, fitness instructor Ron Mendoza, 43, died two days after being hospitalized for injuries from a collision on his bike with a car driver last Monday night, June 5, at Wrightwood Avenue and Pulaski Road in northwest Logan Square.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office recently confirmed to Streetsblog that Mendoza, died two mornings later on Wednesday, June 7, at 10:39 a.m. He lived about three miles southeast of the crash site on the 2600 of West Hirsch St. in Humboldt Park.
See Streetsblog’s previous coverage of the case below.
A GoFundMe page has been launched by organizer Jacqueline Hines to help support Mendoza’s family and has raised over $15,000. “Our beloved Ron, (instructor, friend, fitness guru, brother, son, cousin, dog dad, plant dad, the list goes on) was hit by a [driver] while riding his bike on Tuesday,” Hines wrote on the page. “We will miss his light, and incredible energy every day. Ron brought joy to everyone and helped so many people during his lifetime. His death is a tremendous loss to all of his communities.”
Streetsblog was notified of Mendoza’s passing by a person who works at a building where Mendoza worked as a fitness instructor “He was a great guy with a personality that would light up a room," the person wrote. "It's a terrible loss."
Previous Streetsblog coverage of the case:
Streetsblog Chicago Fatality Tracker
Pedestrian: 15
Bicyclist: 2
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.
2023 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases
- On May 29, 2023, a hit-and-run driver killed Angela R. Mcknight, 49, crossing in the 1200 block of S. Independence Dr.
- On April 14, 2023, a Chrysler driver fatally struck a man, 59, on the 8800 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Chatham.
- On April 8, 2023, a turning sedan driver struck and killed Tracy Burton, 55, crossing the street at Laramie Avenue and Jackson Boulevard in Austin.
- On March 29,2023, a sedan driver struck and killed a male pedestrian, 46, on the 2000 block of North Cicero in Belmont Cragin.
- On March 25, 2023, a driver ran a stop sign at Washington and Green streets in the West Loop, fatally striking James Robert Thompson and fled the scene.
- On March 19, 2023, a left-turning van driver fatally struck Guo Ning Li, 78, in a crosswalk at 24th Street and Wentworth Avenue in Chinatown.
- On February 20, 2023, a right-turning FedEx step van driver ran over and killed Marsha Frankel, 72, in a crosswalk at Roosevelt Road and Wabash Avenue in the South Loop.
- On February 14, 2023, a CTA bus driver fatally struck Kevin Herrera, 28, at at 47th Street and Ashland Avenue in Back of the Yards.
- On February 7, 2023, a driver fatally struck Erik S. Wills, 49, on the 8800 block of South May Street in Gresham.
- On February 6, 2023, a motorist struck and killed Stevenson Mays, 59, on the 5600 block of South Racine Avenue in West Englewood and fled the scene.
- On January 27, 2023, two drivers collided on the 5000 block of West Washington Street in Austin and fatally struck Jennifer Kelleher, 25, and then both fled the scene.
- On January 26, 2023, an SUV driver fatally struck an unidentified woman, 93, on the 300 block of South Laramie Avenue in Austin and fled the scene.
- On January 10, 2023, a sedan driver struck and killed an unidentified man, 33, on the 3500 block of West Lake Street in East Garfield Park and fled the scene.
- On January 3, 2023, a cargo van driver fatally struck Jaime Cuadra, 47, as he was exiting a vehicle on 87th Street in front of the Red Line station.
- On January 2, 2023, a 45-year-old man was crossing Lafayette Avenue at 79th Street in Chatham when a speeding driver ran a red, fatally struck him, and fled the scene on foot.
- On January 2, 2023, near 72nd Street and Damen Avenue in West Englewood, Roy Lee, 21, was getting into his car when a driver swerved into oncoming lanes, fatally struck Lee and hit three parked cars, then fled the scene on foot.
Bike fatalities
- On June 7, 2023, bike rider Ron Mendoza, 43, died from injuries sustained in a July 5 crash with a car driver at Wrightwood Avenue and Pulaski Road in Logan Square.
- On May 7, 2023, bike rider Rick Lomas was traveling south on California Avenue in Humboldt Park when he was was fatally struck by a 2005 Pontiac Grand Prix driver who left the scene.
