Cabbie charged with reckless homicide in River West crash
ASSOCIATED PRESS September 10, 2012 2:56PM
Cabdriver John A. Kesse, of Chicago, who's charged with reckless homicide, was ordered held in lieu of $200,000 bail Tuesday for a crash in which University of Chicago graduate student. Eric Kerestes was killed on Aug. 14. | Chicago Police Photo
A cab driver was charged Monday with reckless homicide in connection with an Aug. 14 crash that killed a pedestrian in the River West neighborhood.
John A. Kesse, 60 of the 4500 block of North Clarendon Avenue, was charged with reckless homicide, according to police News Affairs.
Kesse was previously cited for failure to reduce speed, driving on the sidewalk or parkways, failure to keep in a lane, negligent driving, disobeying a steady red signal, driving more than 30 but less than 40 mph over the speed limit, and damage to public property.
Kesse was driving a cab that fatally struck 30-year-old Eric Kerestes at 6:07 a.m. on Aug. 14 at North Milwaukee and West Chicago avenues, authorities said.
Kerestes, of the 600 block of North Racine Avenue, was dead on the scene, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. An autopsy confirmed he died of multiple injuries from a cab striking a pedestrian and the death was ruled an accident.
Two other people were taken from the scene in critical condition, according to Fire Media Affairs. One went to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County and the other to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Originally from downstate Bloomington, Kerestes was married and studying for his MBA at the University of Chicago while working at Kiewit Eastern District, according to a family spokesperson.
He received his bachelor’s and master’s in engineering from the University of Illinois at Champaign.
Kerestes’ wife, Tatijana Kerestes, filed a wrongful death suit on Aug. 27 against Kesse, seeking unspecified damages.
