A 23-year-old electric scooter rider says a bronze crossover struck him near 57th Street and Kedzie Avenue in Gage Park around noon, then the driver helped him to his feet, picked up his scattered groceries — and drove away once he asked for identification and insurance information. Angel Gonzalez was left with a head injury, a broken toe, scratches and bruises, and was taken to a hospital following the crash.
According to FOX 32 Chicago, the crash happened as the vehicle was making a U-turn in the parking lot of Pete's Fresh Market, near an employee entrance to the store. Gonzalez's scooter became stuck underneath the crossover, and surveillance video captured the entire encounter, including the moment the driver walked away without providing any identifying information.
Gonzalez said the driver initially checked on him, asked if he was okay and helped gather his groceries off the ground — a response he described as decent, right up until he asked for the driver's insurance and ID. That's when, per Gonzalez's account, the driver got back in the crossover and left the scene entirely.
Family Turns to the Public for Help
Gonzalez and his family have shared the surveillance footage in hopes that someone recognizes the bronze crossover or its driver. They're asking anyone with information to contact Chicago police, and Gonzalez himself has urged the driver to come forward. As of the FOX 32 Chicago report, police said the crash report had not yet been finalized.
A Rough Stretch for Chicago Riders
The Gage Park crash lands amid a difficult month for cyclists and scooter riders across the city. Just weeks earlier, 54-year-old Juan Martin Márquez Luna was riding an e-bike to work on South Archer Avenue when a blue pickup truck struck a sedan and then hit him before fleeing, according to Block Club Chicago. He died a day later, and the outlet reported that two other Chicago cyclists were struck by drivers and left in critical condition within the same two-week span. NBC Chicago reported that Márquez Luna was at least the fourth person killed by a driver while biking in Chicago this year.
Other recent tragedies underscore the danger for the city's youngest riders. An 8-year-old boy, Jad Debiy, died after being hit by a vehicle while riding a motorized scooter in suburban Bridgeview, the same Block Club Chicago report noted. And a 16-year-old boy, Alex Blacio, was killed riding an electric scooter in North Center after he lost control and crashed into a semi-truck traveling alongside him, according to ABC 7 Chicago.
Injuries Climbing as Ridership Booms
Gonzalez's crash also arrives against a backdrop of surging scooter use citywide. Rental e-scooters logged more than seven million rides in Chicago in 2025, per WGN-TV, which also cited national data from 2016 to 2020 showing e-scooter-related injuries tripled, with roughly half requiring surgery.
Doctors say the toll on riders' bodies can be severe. Medical professionals told Axios they're treating deep lacerations, dental injuries, traumatic brain injuries, concussions and skull fractures tied to e-scooter and e-bike crashes, and Northwestern has reported more of these injuries every year since 2021. Complicating the picture, the city's Department of Transportation lumps e-scooter and e-bike incidents together with regular bicycle crash reports, and no longer tracks e-scooter safety data separately even as ridership has ballooned since 2020.
For now, Gonzalez is left waiting — for a finalized police report, and for someone to recognize the bronze crossover that left him bruised and stuck asking a simple question that never got answered.
