CHICAGO — A 21-year-old man was ordered held on $750,000 bail after he was charged in a car crash that killed an unborn baby whose mother was nine months pregnant, authorities said.
Benjamin Pilar, whose address is unknown, was booked into jail Friday, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
On Tuesday, Pilar was driving southward in the 3500 block of South California Avenue when he crossed the center lane and struck a northbound car about 3 p.m., said Officer Antoinette Ursitti, a police spokeswoman.
The car’s 21-year-old driver, a Berwyn woman, was nine months pregnant, NBC Chicago reported. She was treated at Mount Sinai Hospital, but her baby did not survive.
The baby was named Jose Luis Escobar and removed from his mother’s womb at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Brighton Park crash caused a placental abruption — or the separation of the placenta from the uterus before a baby is delivered — the medical examiner ruled.
Pilar was charged with reckless homicide of an unborn child, aggravated DUI resulting in bodily harm and three counts of misdemeanor DUI, NBC reported. He was also ticketed for driving without a license, failure to provide proof of insurance, failure to maintain lanes and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
Initial tests reportedly showed Pilar’s blood alcohol level was 0.254 percent and he also had traces of cocaine in his system, NBC reported.
Pilar will appear in court again April 30.
