COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Police stopped at a red light witnessed the Avalon Park hit-and-run that killed a 51-year-old man late Saturday, prosecutors said.
Officers in a squad car were waiting to turn at 79th and Stony Island when they saw a red Chevy Impala speed through a green light, slam into a pedestrian and keep driving southbound about 11:10 p.m. Saturday, according to police and prosecutors.
The entire incident was captured on the squad car's dashboard camera.
Impala driver Alicia Johnson, 22, later admitted to drinking a glass of Hennessy cognac before getting into her car that evening, according to an arrest report.
The mother of two told police she tried to brake when she saw the pedestrian, but couldn't stop in time. During a recent oil change, mechanics told Johnson she needed new brakes, the report said.
"I want to make myself very, very clear," Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas told Johnson during a bond hearing Tuesday. "You are not allowed to drive."
Johnson, who is charged with reckless homicide, was ordered held in lieu of $35,000 bail. Should she post bond, Johnson must wear an electronic-monitoring bracelet and adhere to a curfew, the judge ordered.
"She did panic," Johnson's defense attorney, Charles Ingles, said in court Tuesday. "When the police came, she cooperated totally."
Police estimate Johnson was driving 45-50 mph on Stony Island, which has a 30-mph speed limit, according to Assistant State's Attorney Marilyn Salas-Wail.
The pedestrian, who was walking on Stony Island as Johnson drove south, was pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, prosecutors said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office had not released the victim's name; his family has not yet been notified of his death.
Police were able to track down Johnson using a red-light camera that captured her license plate number, according to Salas-Wail. Officers spotted front-end damage and a cracked windshield on the Impala.
Johnson, of the 9700 block of South Avalon Avenue, is charged with reckless homicide, leaving the scene of an accident causing injury or death and failure to show due care when a pedestrian is in the roadway.
According to Ingles, Johnson didn't immediately see the pedestrian because he walked into the roadway from behind another car. Johnson, who works at a pawn shop and has no prior criminal history, panicked after the crash, Ingles said.
Johnson has two children, ages 2 and 5, according to Ingles.
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