COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Cook County Prosecutors have indicted Terrell Garrett, the North Chicago cop accused in a wrong-way, drunk-driving crash on Lake Shore Drive that took the lives of two young men last month.
Following a brief court hearing on Friday, an attorney representing Garrett said his client plans to plead not guilty.
Garrett was reportedly celebrating his birthday and had been drinking before the crash. His blood alcohol level was .184, prosecutors said. The legal limit for driving is 0.08.
About 4 a.m. March 12, Garrett, 35, entered Lake Shore Drive's southbound lanes at LaSalle Street heading north, police said. Garrett's SUV struck a Scion between Belmont Avenue and Diversey Parkway before smashing into a Jeep, police said.
The two men in the Jeep — Fabian Torres, 27, of the 2800 block of South Avers, and Joaquin Garcia, 25, of the 2200 block of West 18th Place — were killed.
Garrett, who became a North Chicago cop in 2008, was stripped of his police powers and placed on administrative leave following his arrest.Following the crash, Garrett was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was treated for a fractured hip, police said. A woman driving the Scion who was also involved in the accident was sent to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.
Garrett, who remains in the Cook County Jail on $500,000 bond, is still relegated to a wheelchair for the injuries he suffered in the crash.
Family and friends of the victims, who have come to all of Garrett's court appearances, huddled together in the courthouse after the hearing, consulting with a private attorney representing the family. They declined to comment.
