A tragic sequence of events unfolded Tuesday afternoon in the Austin neighborhood when a man suspected of driving a stolen vehicle was fatally struck by a semi-truck while trying to escape from Chicago police.
Official reports from the Chicago Police Department, as documented by Chicago Tribune, outline that at around 2:30 p.m., officers from CPD's vehicular hijacking task force happened upon the stolen vehicle at an auto cleaning service in the 800 block of South Cicero Avenue, whereupon they approached the vehicle, they saw the 24-year-old driver exiting the car, the man fled on foot, and he was subsequently hit by the truck.
The impact of the collision proved fatal, and the man, whose name has not been disclosed, was pronounced dead shortly after at 2:55 p.m., as disclosed by the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Meanwhile, the semi-truck involved in the accident did not stop following the incident and continues to be sought by authorities.
Furthermore, WGN-TV reported that the man who was struck had just emerged from the parked vehicle. He tried to evade the police by running, but his attempt was cut short when he was struck by the semi-truck, and the vehicle at the center of this fatality sped away.
Both the CPD Major Accidents Investigation Unit and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability are conducting inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the crash and the ensuing death, looking to piece together the events that led to this unfortunate conclusion.
