COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Hermosa man had a blood-alcohol content of .24 when he caused a fatal West Town collision Saturday afternoon, prosecutors said Monday.
That's three times the legal limit of .08.
Yonatan Monrroy-Madrid, 19, had been drinking beer and was speeding on Hubbard Street when he ran a stop sign at Ashland Avenue about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, T-boning a 2004 Toyota Camry, Assistant State's Attorney Bryan Grissman said during a bond hearing Monday.
The impact was so strong that the Camry, which had been heading north on Ashland, was pushed up onto a sidewalk, through a fence and into a parking lot, prosecutors said.
The Camry's driver, 57-year-old Phillip Pieczynski, died on the scene, said a spokeswoman for the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, which released Pieczynski's name on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, prosecutors said, a 19-year-old passenger was thrown from Monrroy-Madrid's 1999 Jeep Cherokee and sustained "minor injuries." She and a 23-year-old passenger were taken to nearby hospitals, Grissman said.
Paramedics on the scene smelled alcohol on Monrroy-Madrid's breath and noticed that he was slurring his speech, prosecutors said. A blood sample taken after the crash revealed his BAC to be .24, three times the legal limit of .08.
Monrroy-Madrid, of the 2200 block of North Knox Avenue, is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated DUI causing an accident. He was also cited for speeding, ignoring a stop sign and not having auto insurance.
Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil on Monday ordered Monrroy-Madrid held in lieu of $300,000 bail.
According to witness Anne Kessler, the victim's Camry had flipped over at impact.
"It had flipped and turned so it was upright but facing the street. The Jeep was on Hubbard Street," Kessler said. "The firemen were there fast and worked very hard. I saw them take off their coats and do everything they could to help. He [the 57-year-old] was not moving."
An ABC7 news report captured the scene and interviewed a witnesses who said "the guy in the Jeep was coming down Hubbard; it looked like he was going 60 mph."
Kessler, who has lived near the intersection of Hubbard and Ashland for two years and has a birds-eye view from her balcony, said the corner is "already a dangerous one and needs a traffic light."
"I have seen crashes there before," Kessler continued, "but nothing like that. It's tragic."
