Man charged with DUI in wrong-way crash that critically injured 2 on Stevenson

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Updated: March 5, 2012 8:04AM

A 23-year-old South Side man has been charged with DUI after he drove the wrong way for more than 6 miles on the outbound Stevenson Expressway before crashing into another car at Lake Shore Drive, critically injuring himself and another driver.

Illinois State Police don’t know when Rakesh J. Baker of the 6900 block of South Michigan Avenue entered onto I-55, but motorists near Kedzie Avenue first reported him driving inbound in the outbound lanes at 3:07 a.m., District Chicago Trooper Ivan Bukaczyk said.

About 10 minutes later, the 2008 Jeep Liberty he was driving at high speed slammed head-on into a 2005 Toyota Corolla driven by 24-year-old Bessie Postles on the ramp from southbound Lake Shore Drive to the outbound Stevenson, state police said.

Both drivers were hospitalized but their injuries are thought to be non-life-threatening, state police said. The Chicago Fire Department reported both were taken in critical condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Baker was charged with DUI and ticketed for driving the wrong way, failure to reduce speed and operating a vehicle without insurance, state police said. He will remain in police custody after he is released from the hospital.