Motorist charged with DUI in fatal hit-and-run

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A Chicago man has been charged with aggravated drunken driving after allegedly striking and killing a man who was waiting for a tow truck on the shoulder of the I-55 Expressway on Thursday night on the Southwest Side, State Police said.

The hit-and-run crash happened at 10:17 p.m. in the northbound lanes of I-55 near Damen Avenue, Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Anthony Hoop said.

The vehicle that Enrique Lopez, 32, was driving had experienced mechanical problems and was parked on the right shoulder, Hoop said. A northbound pickup truck struck the motorist while he waited for a tow truck, leaving the man with very serious injuries, he said.

The truck, described as a white pickup with a blue driver’s door, left the scene of the crash, he said.

Chicago Fire Department crews took the man to Mount Sinai Hospital, but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, Hoop said. Lopez, of an unidentified address, was pronounced dead at 11:34 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Motorist Fernando Almaraz, 40, of the 5400 block of South Ellis Avenue, was charged with one count of aggravated DUI, State Police said Saturday, adding that the charges may be upgraded after Almaraz’s first court appearance.

A person who reportedly saw the motorist cross the solid white “fog line” and strike Lopez and leave called 911, and gave a description of the striking vehicle, according to a Chicago police report.

Police found the truck about 15 minutes after the accident in Chicago in the 5400 block of South Ellis Avenue, State Police Trooper Stefano Caramelli said. When he was stopped, officers detected a “strong odor of alcoholic beverage” on his breath, and the man had bloodshot and glassy eyes and his speech was slurred, the report said.

An open can of beer with some left inside was found in the vehicle. The motorist submitted to and failed all field sobriety tests given, according to the report. The man was taken into custody and as of 2 a.m. Saturday charges were still pending, according to ISP District Chicago Trooper Ivan Bukaczyk.

An autopsy on Friday confirmed that the victim had died from multiple injuries suffered when a motor vehicle struck him. His death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.

State Police are investigating.