COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Portage Park man driving a Jaguar with "Do R Di" license plates tried to hail a cab after he caused a fiery four-car crash Sunday, prosecutors said.
The collision killed 62-year-old Carmen Maria Vanegas. A 64-year-old man is still listed in serious condition with broken ribs, bruised lungs and a head contusion, according to prosecutors.
It all started when Jason Missak, 33, ran a red light near Belmont and Kedzie avenues about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Assistant State's Attorney Lesley Gool said during a bond hearing Tuesday.
Missak's white 2005 Jaguar, which had been heading west on Belmont, struck a black Chevy Cobalt going north on Kedzie, prosecutors said.
The force of the collision pushed the Cobalt into Kedzie's southbound lanes, where the Colbalt struck a Volkswagen Jetta with three occupants and a Toyota Corolla with one occupant, Gool said.
At that point, Missak got out of his Jaguar, which has the license plates "Do R Di," and walked toward Belmont, where he tried to hail a cab, according to prosecutors.
Passengers from the Jetta told the cab driver Missak had just caused a crash, Gool said, the driver refused to let Missak into his vehicle.
Missak then walked back toward the crash site, where the Cobalt was now engulfed in flames, according to prosecutors. After taking a look at the car, Missak allegedly jumped a barrier and ran westbound.
The Cobalt's driver, a 64-year-old man, was seriously wounded. The passenger — later identified as Vanegas, of the 3900 block of West 58th Place — was pronounced dead at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center about 7:40 a.m. Sunday., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
A witness on the scene snapped a cellphone photo of Missak, Gool said, and the cab driver told police Missak smelled like alcohol and appeared to be intoxicated.
The crash was captured on a nearby red-light camera.
When police arrested Missak at his home in the 5700 block of West Pensacola Avenue about 4:40 p.m. Sunday, he admitted to officers that he was involved in a crash and had fled the scene, court records show.
The Jaguar is registered to Missak.
He is now charged with reckless homicide and leaving the scene of an accident causing injury or death.
According to his defense attorney, Missak works a night shift at Misericordia and also has a job as "an estimator."
Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil on Tuesday set bail at $250,000.
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