A Chicago man who had eluded police for nearly two months after allegedly fatally striking a pedestrian in Blue Island was arrested over the weekend, police said.
Tarnche Wesley, 39, was charged Saturday with reckless homicide in the hit-and-run death of a 30-year-old Blue Island man, police Chief LaSalle King said.
Wesley, who was being pursued by police on Nov. 30 after allegedly stealing vehicle parts from a Posen auto shop, struck Francis Mihalovits on the east side of Western Avenue near Desplaines Street just before 7:30 p.m., police reports show.
He allegedly fled the scene on foot before police arrived, dumping the white Jeep Patriot he’d been driving and abandoning a woman and two small children who had been with him in the vehicle, police said.
Police obtained an arrest warrant for Wesley about a week later, but did not respond to questions about the case until he was apprehended and charged over the weekend.
Mihalovits’ estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Blue Island, Posen and the officers who allegedly pursued the fleeing suspect, claiming they engaged in the pursuit “with conscious disregard for the safety of others.”
The lawsuit claims the officers participated in the pursuit when it was not safe to do so; continued the pursuit after the fleeing vehicle failed to stop at the activation of their sirens; drove their vehicles at speeds “greater than was reasonable and proper given the road conditions;” and failed to call off the chase when it was the “most reasonable course of action.”
As a result of the officers’ “careless and negligent acts and/or omissions,” Mihalovits suffered serious, ultimately fatal, injuries that resulted in great pain and physical suffering and caused him to incur significant medical expenses, the suit alleged.
According to an incident report filed by the Posen police officer who responded to the auto parts theft and spotted the suspect’s white Jeep traveling north on Western Avenue, the suspect did not stop when he activated his emergency lights and siren.
At that point, rather than engaging in a high-speed chase with the suspect, the officer’s report states that he terminated his effort to stop the vehicle at the direction of his commander. He continued following the Jeep, however, and informed dispatchers to notify Blue Island police that it was approaching their jurisdiction.
The Posen officer’s report states that he eventually lost track of the vehicle, but later encountered it on the east side of Western at Desplaines, where it had struck Mihalovits and toppled a light pole.
A witness told him the vehicle had been speeding when the driver lost control of the vehicle, which turned sideways and climbed the sidewalk, where it struck Mihalovits and downed the pole, his report states.
Blue Island police arrived at the scene to investigate, according to his report.
An attorney for Mihalovits’ estate did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how Wesley’s arrest or the release of police reports stating there was no pursuit might affect his suit.
Wesley was scheduled to appear in Markham bond court on Tuesday.
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