Woman Accused of Doing Heroin, Passing Out At Train Crossing

A west suburban couple who drove to Chicago to buy heroin got stuck at a train crossing on the way back, and did all the heroin, authorities claim. They were passed out in the running car when police found them.

Just after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Riverside police got a 911 call that a running vehicle was stopped in the southbound lanes of Harlem Avenue at Addison Road, and both the driver and passenger were slumped over inside, a statement from police said.

The first arriving officer found the pair passed out in the car, which was running and in gear with the driver’s foot on the brake pedal. The officer called paramedics and tried to revive the driver by shaking her, police said.

When she woke up, she wiped a white substance off her lap and clothing, police said. And she seemed “confused, spoke with slurred speech and appeared dazed,” the statement said.

Both she and her passenger, a man who did not wake up, were taken to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn, police said.

The driver —- Ivana Tasevska, 21 —- allegedly told police the couple had rented a room at a motel in Lyons, then driven to Chicago on the Eisenhower to buy heroin, police said.

On their way back, they were stopped in traffic because of a freight train which blocked the crossing for a lengthy period, so they injected the heroin, police said. She also admitted taking methadone, Xanax, crack cocaine and heroin in the previous 24 hours.

Tasevska, 21, of the 0-100 block of Stratford Court in Indian Head Park, was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and numerous traffic citations, police said.

The passenger, a 22-year-old Brookfield resident, was not charged, and was treated for a heroin overdose. Police said they could not charge the couple with drug possession because they did all the heroin, but they did seize the 2013 Kia utility vehicle they were driving.

“Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence in the suburbs. Many of our suburban residents are making their way down the Eisenhower into Chicago to purchase narcotics, get back on the expressway and return to their homes and jobs,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the statement.

“I am glad officers were able to get on the scene quickly, summon paramedics and get the individuals medical treatment before a tragedy took place.”

Had the driver “woken up and inadvertently accelerated while under the influence” she could have “caused a major accident on Harlem Avenue, possibly injuring innocent motorists,” the chief said.

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