Tragically, a semi truck driver reportedly disobeyed his signal while making a right turn, and ran over and killed a 44-year-old man, last Friday afternoon next to Benito Juarez High School in Pilsen.
The crash location is a massive five-way intersection of Cermak, Ashland, and Blue Island avenues, serving an industrial zone. Here Ashland has seven lanes, and pedestrian crossings are daunting, despite the fact there's a school here. This location is in the 25th Ward, served by Ald. Byron Sigcho Lopez.
According to the initial Chicago Police Department statement, on Friday, May 16, at around 12:08 p.m., the male pedestrian was in a crosswalk on the 2100 south block when a southbound semi driver struck him. The victim was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to a Police News Affairs spokesperson this morning, the trucker was cited for disobeying a stoplight and improper response to a stop or turn signal.
The Illinois Traffic Crash Report, completed by responding police officers, provides more details about what reportedly happened. However, the narrative on the document states that camera footage was not viewed before writing the report. That may help explain why the narrative includes a statement from the trucker that appears to contradict the CPD findings that led to the citations.
The narrative states that the semi driver said he was facing southbound on Ashland at a red light, and when the turned green, "he turned westbound on Blue Island."
The report says the trucker hit the victim with the front passenger-side wheel. The driver said that he did not know he had struck a pedestrian until bystanders waved him down
Fatality Tracker: 2025 Chicago pedestrian and bicyclist deaths on surface streets
Pedestrian: 9
Bicyclist: 0
Streetsblog Chicago’s traffic death numbers represent fatal crashes on Chicago surface streets, based on media reports and/or preliminary Chicago Police Department data.
2025 Chicago pedestrian fatality cases
• On January 5, 2025, a Jeep driver fatally struck Alex Rivera, 32, in the 2600 block of West 60th Street in the Chicago Lawn community area.
• On January 24, 2025, a hit-and-run SUV driver struck and killed Halyna Hudzan, 66, on the 700 block of North Oakley Boulevard in West Town.
• On February 1, 2025, a truck driver struck and killed Hattie Mickell, 76, walking in the street on the 0-100 block of South Western Avenue on the Near West Side.
• On March 14, 2025, a motorcycle rider fatally struck Camryn Green, 26, as she crossed the street in the 6500 block of Higgins Avenue in Norwood Park.
• On March 17, 2025, a sedan driver sideswiped another car, then jumped the curb and fatally struck Jamie Cerney, 38, on the sidewalk of the 5200 block of West 63rd Street in Clearing.
• On April 7, 2025, a pickup driver fatally struck a 72-year-old man trying to cross DuSable Lake Shore Drive at Roosevelt Road in the Loop.
• On April 29, 2025, an allegedly intoxicated sedan driver fatally struck a woman, 25, on the sidewalk near 13th Street and Lawndale Avenue in North Lawndale.
• On May 13, 2025, an allegedly drunk SUV driver fatally struck a man, 76, on the 7000 South block of Western Avenue in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood and fled the scene.
• On May 16, 2025, a semi truck reportedly disobeyed his traffic signal when making a right turn and ran over and killed a 44-year-old man in the crosswalk at Cermak and Ashland avenues in Pilsen.
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