A 19 year-old man has been charged in a hit-and-run accident that left two Northwest Side friends dead Monday.
Police say Carlos Hernandez-Garcia, of North Maplewood Avenue, was behind the wheel of a car that struck and killed two pedestrians -- identified as Christy Cawthon, 34, and Yakho Oshana, 50 -- as they were walking east across Devon Avenue in Rogers Park.
Hernandez-Garcia, was charged Thursday morning with two counts of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, according to police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.
Hernandez-Garcia was driving his brother’s car at the time of the accident, Kubiak said. The owner of the car had told police that he was not driving at the time of the accident and that the car might have been stolen.
Police determined that the owner was at work at the time of the incident, which happened Monday night at about 10:30 p.m.
The car had a green light when it went through the intersection, but failed to yield to the pedestrians, police said.
The impact of the collision threw Oshana into the southbound lanes of Western Avenue, about a quarter block south of the intersection and knocked his shoes off. A woman’s purse was also lying in the southbound lanes and broken glass was scattered over the street.
Witnesses identified the red, early-90s Honda with a loud muffler and police found it shortly after the crash with severe front-end damage.
The driver was not in the vehicle when it was found, according to the captain, who said an investigation determined the man to whom the car was registered was at work when the accident happened.
The suspect -- reportedly Hernandez-Garcia -- walked into the Albany Park District police station Tuesday and told officers he was in an accident and hit people at Devon and Western avenues, according to a law enforcement source.
He was arrested and was in custody at Belmont Area police headquarters early Wednesday, according to Libert.
The police Major Accident Investigation Unit is investigating.
