Drowning Official Cause of Death in Naperville Quarry Accident

Investigators from the DuPage County Coroner’s Office have formally declared drowning to be the cause of the deaths of two local college students, who were killed earlier this summer when a car in which they were passengers plunged into a 40-feet-deep, water-filled quarry near downtown Naperville.

Chief Deputy Coroner Charlie Dastych said the official ruling was made recently, following receipt of toxicological testing results on the bodies of the two men, Sajaad S. Syed, of Naperville, and Mihirtej Boddupalli, of Lisle.

Boddupalli and Syed were killed about 2 a.m. July 19, after the 2007 Chevrolet Impala in which they were riding left Aurora Avenue at Eagle Street, ran through a chain-link fence and fell into the quarry, opposite the Naperville Municipal Center. The driver, Michael T. Szot, escaped from the car.

Dastych said rescuers found Syed inside the car at the bottom of the quarry, and Boddupalli nearby in the water. He said he did not know whether Boddupalli had been ejected from the car and into the water, or if he managed to get out under his own power prior to drowning.

Dastych added the toxicological testing results showed alcohol and narcotics were “not a factor in either victim’s death.”

Szot, Syed and Boddupalli, all 21, spent part of the evening July 18 and the early morning of July 19 at Features Bar & Grill at 14 W. Chicago Ave. in downtown Naperville.

Prosecutors from the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office have alleged Szot drank at least eight servings of beer and several shots of rum prior to getting behind the wheel of his car. He had also smoked marijuana on the night or the morning in question, prosecutors said.

A motorist later told police the Impala appeared to her as a “white streak,” as it passed her vehicle in Aurora Avenue’s westbound lanes just before plunging into the quarry.

Szot, who reportedly escaped from the sinking car via the driver-side window, was taken to Edward Hospital in Naperville for treatment. Szot, while in the emergency room, asked if “his car was drowning,” but did not inquire about his friends, according to records on file in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton.

Those records also indicated Szot’s blood-alcohol content at the time was .14, or nearly double the level of .08 that legally defines intoxication under Illinois law.

Additional toxicological findings put his blood-alcohol content at .096, court records showed. Marijuana also was allegedly found in his system.

Szot contended he had not been driving at the time, and “had given his keys to irresponsible friends” after they had left Features, according to court records. Police allegedly found a seat belt bruise on Szot’s body and other evidence showing he had been driving at the time.

The crash in large part prompted members of the Naperville City Council on Tuesday to approve restrictions on the selling prices of alcohol at local bars, and to require special training for their employees. Council members are mulling other possible changes, such as limiting the size of drinks and establishing a cut-off time for entering the bars.

Szot, of Geneva, is free on bond, and facing trial on nine felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol during an accident causing death. He is scheduled to return Oct. 2 to court.