A Chicago Public Schools teacher has been charged after he allegedly hit two young girls with his car Tuesday morning and fled the scene of the accident, officials said.
The two girls, ages 7 and 14, were hit around 8 a.m. in the 3400 block of North Austin Avenue in the city’s Portage Park neighborhood while they were on their way to school.
Witnesses reported a car had stopped at a crosswalk to let the two children cross the street, but another vehicle behind it tried to pass and hit them.
The 7-year-old was transported to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in serious condition, but both girls are expected to be OK.
The driver, identified as 26-year-old Matthew Lucchini, was taken into custody a “short distance away,” authorities said. He was charged with two misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol and a misdemeanor count of leaving the scene of an accident.
CPS has confirmed that Matthew Lucchini is a teacher at Locke Elementary.
"CPS takes allegations of unlawful activity by its employees very seriously. Due to the ongoing investigation, we cannot comment at this time."
The brother of the two young girls was at the scene when the crash happened.
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“I just saw my sister on the floor and my other sister across the street, it was just nerve-racking for me,” said Angelo Oquendo. “He hit them and then got afraid. He got out of the car to see what happened and when the cops came he got in his car and tried to get away.”
That’s when Angelo Oquendo called his mother, Christina Frangos and told her the two girls had been involved in an accident.
“I was in shock I almost dropped the phone,” she said. “I said, ‘Is she okay?’ and he said, ‘I don't know she is just lying there.’ I remember dropping the phone dropping to the knees and my coworkers helped me get back up.”
Fourteen-year-old girl Jazmine Oquendo was involved in the crash, but said she was more concerned for her sister.
“I saw my sister lying on the floor and I thought she was dead I thought I had lost my sister,” she said.
Alderman Gilbert Villegas’ office said it was notified of dangers reported at the intersection of Austin and Cornelia months ago and asked for the Chicago Department of Transportation to conduct a traffic study on the area.
On Tuesday, the alderman’s office asked that the department accelerate that study to help find a long-term solution. For now, the office is working with the nearby Chicago Academy to have volunteer parents help kids cross the intersection before and after school.
“You think you're kids are safe, they are only walking across the street to school and then this happens,” Frangos said. “It felt like my heart was wrapped out of my chest. To know I still have them I don't know what to say. An angel watched over them.”
