Rental truck driver guilty of murder

A former Chicago man who drove a stolen rental truck into a car while trying to flee police was convicted today of murdering a 16-year-old boy killed in the crash.

The guilty verdict delivered after about 2 1/2 hours of deliberation means 28-year-old Ralph Lewis faces a prison term of between 20 and 60 years when he is sentenced.

Lewis also was convicted of aggravated battery, unlawful restraint and possession of a stolen vehicle as a result of the July 23, 2006 crash in northwest suburban Buffalo Grove that killed one teen and injured two others.

Relatives of 16-year-old Corey Diamond, who died in the crash, erupted in cheers and applause after the verdict was announced, as did family members of 18-year-old Elliott Cellini and 18-year-old Brandon Forshall, who were injured by the speeding, five-ton rental truck.

Following the cheers, Lewis leaned back in his chair, flashed both his middle fingers at the victims' families, then smiled broadly across the courtroom at them.

Family members outside the courtroom said they were focusing on the guilty verdicts, not Lewis' reaction to them.

ŇI don't care as long as he was found guilty. He can smile until kingdom come,’’ said Corey’s grandmother, Lola Hirsch.

Relatives were relieved Lewis was convicted of murder, not a lesser charge of reckless homicide — which defense attorneys had sought. Reckless homicide carries a prison term of between three and seven years.

“It’s a big relief, but it doesn’t bring Corey back,’’ said Ed Diamond, Corey's father. “It doesn’t ease our pain.’’

Cook County prosecutors argued Lewis should be convicted of murder because he knew his wild driving in an effort to escape pursuing police was bound to trigger a deadly crash.

During his trial, multiple witnesses testified that the stolen U-Haul rental truck driven by Lewis forced them to swerve off the road or onto medians to avoid being hit. Police at one point clocked the truck at 80 miles an hour on traffic-choked Milwaukee Avenue in Lincolnshire.

“He knew from where he sat that someone was going to be killed or hurt — and he didn’t care,’’ said prosecutor Thomas Byrne while urging jurors to convict Lewis.

Lewis had used a stolen driver’s license to rent the truck, then used the license to obtain credit and buy items at several stores in the Gurnee Mills shopping center in what authorities contend was a fraud scheme.

He fled the center in the truck after a clerk in one store became suspicious, touching off a police pursuit that began in Gurnee, then wound through several suburbs before ending in Buffalo Grove. Police at several points stopped pursuing the truck because of Lewis' erratic driving, but he still didn't slow down, prosecutors argued.

Buffalo Grove police had started pursuing the truck when Lewis ran a red light and broadsided the car containing the three teens. The impact pushed the car nearly 100 yards down the road, while the rental truck swerved into a utility pole, then stopped.

ŇHe fired a five- to seven-ton truck -- like a missile -- into a crowd of people,'' prosecutor Steve Rosenblum said.

Defense attorney Helen Tsimouris argued Lewis should be acquitted of the murder charge because he was trying to escape from police, not harm anyone.

ŇHe's thoughtless, careless and reckless, but he's not guilty of first-degree murder,'' Tsimouris said. “He set out to get back to Chicago. He never intended once he got on that road for anyone to get hurt or killed.’’

Jurors declined to comment on the verdicts, though two stopped to embrace Cellini and Diamond family members outside the courthouse.