Sadly, earlier this month a commercial truck driver left the street while making a right turn, fatally striking Chauncie J. Lewis, 33, who was lying on the sidewalk in West Garfield Park, according to authorities.
According to the initial police report on Wednesday, October 4 at about 8:30 a.m., a commercial vehicle driver was turning from Congress Parkway (500 S.) onto Kostner Avenue (4400 W.) The intersection is located just west of a westbound offramp for the Eisenhower Expressway. He struck and killed a then-unidentified man on the sidewalk. The driver received a traffic ticket.
The traffic crash report provides more details about what reportedly happened. It shows that the driver, a 28-year-old man who lives in northwest Indiana resident, was driving a semi-truck for a Michigan-based steel company at the time of the incident. The trucker was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian on the sidewalk.
The victim's name and age are not listed on the crash report. It states that he was pronounced dead at 8:46 a.m.
The Cook County medical examiner's office identified him as Chauncie J. Lewis, 33, from downstate Peoria, Illinois.
The report's narrative states that Lewis was struck when the semi driver was making a right turn. The trucker told responding officers "that he made a wide turn so that he [could] clear the intersection," the report says. "While making his turn, he looked at his right mirror and saw a blanket in his tires. As he continued to go forward, he noticed a body. [The driver] immediately called 911. [He] did not see anyone stand on the corner."
The report says the victim had no ID or "identifying marks." The crash was captured on a Police Observation Device camera, and a review of footage shows Lewis lying on the ground from 6:27 a.m. until the crash.
The report states that at 6:33 a.m., about two hours before the collision, a call was "made by a citizen concerned that the victim would [get] hit and wanted the police to help. Tragically, no intervention was done within the next two hours, after which Lewis was struck, as the caller feared would happen.
Streetsblog Chicago Fatality Tracker
Pedestrian: 25
Bicyclist: 3
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 October 6, 2023. a hit-and-run pick-up truck driver fatally struck 55-year-old man on the 1900 block of West Cermak in Pilsen.
- On October 5, 2023, An SUV driver fatally struck a man, 70, while making left turn at 57th Street and Pulaski Road in West Elsdon, and a sedan driver also struck the victim.
- On October 4, 2023, a turning trucker fatally struck Chauncie J. Lewis while he was lying on the sidewalk at the northeast corner of Congress Parkway and Kostner Avenue in West Rogers Park.
- On September 21, 2023, the southbound driver of a white SUV fatally struck Lidia Morales, 46, in the 5900 block of South King Drive, next to Washington Park.
- On September 18, 2023, the drivers of a sedan and a crossover SUV crashed at the intersection of Peterson and California avenues in West Ridge, and one of the vehicles veered towards an unidentified man on the sidewalk, killing him.
- On September 9, 2023, a hit-and-run sedan driver struck and killed a male pedestrian, 56, on the 500 block of South Independence Boulevard in Garfield Park.
- On August 23, 2023, an SUV driver with a suspended license failed to yield while making a turn from Hoyne Avenue onto Cermak Road and fatally struck Irene Celestino Devillino, 48, in the crosswalk.
- On August 20, 2023 a hit-and-run sedan driver fatally struck Ulysses Coleman, 38, in the 5200 block of North Avenue in Austin.
- On July 25, 2023 a hit-and-run driver killed pedestrian Soyfa Athamanah, 69, in 5100-block of N. Broadway in Uptown.
- On July 13, 2023, a man was fatally injured after he was dragged by a driver and he struck another motorist's car at 818 S. Pulaski Rd.
- 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.
2023 Chicago bike fatalities
- On June 24, 2023, a left-turning driver fatally struck Józef Strus, 67, who was riding a bike at 57th Street and Natchez Avenue in Garfield Ridge.
- 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.
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