CHICAGO — Police are investigating the Saturday hit-and-run death of a McKinley Park man as homicide.
Antonio Mendez, 24, of 2200 block of West 35th Place, was struck by a car and killed early Saturday morning in the 1800 block of West 33rd Place, police said.
Mendez was a passenger in a Chevrolet Cavalier that was driving on the road when Mendez became involved in an argument with the driver of a white SUV about 6:45 Saturday morning.
The Cavalier pulled over, and Mendez, the driver and another passenger got out of the car and approached the SUV, said Officer Anan Pacheco, a police spokesman.
The driver of the SUV then drove towards the group, hitting Mendez. The SUV drove off.
Mendez was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead Saturday at 7:10 a.m., the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said.
Initially, the Police Department's Major Accidents Unit was investigating the incident, but Area Central detectives have taken it over, and are treating it as a homicide, Pacheco said.
