After a driver was caught on camera hitting several vehicles while driving down a residential street on Chicago's Northwest Side, one neighbor voiced his frustrations, questioning why the driver wasn't cited by police.
Angel Zelaya's surveillance camera captured the incident on Barry Avenue just before 6 a.m. Saturday. The Belmont-Cragin resident said he woke up to the sound of his dog barking and his neighbor calling him on the phone.
“Your car got just hit right now with somebody, and they’re basically outside,” he said.
At one point, surveillance video shows the driver getting out of the vehicle.
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“When he hit the car he was struggling because he wanted to leave as soon as he got out of the car, he knew the car couldn’t run,” Zelaya said.
Zelaya rushed out and confronted the driver.
“He said...that he had a cousin in the police department in the District 25,” said Zelaya.
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Zelaya said he couldn’t believe what he saw when the responding officer arrived on scene.
“As soon as he came, the police officer just start joking with him laughing, and we got mad because hey this is not funny,” the Northwest Side resident said. “Three cars just got hit and then you’re laughing like it’s a joke.”
Zelaya claimed the driver received special treatment and was let go at the scene.
“They shouldn’t treat us like that,” he said. “We’re the victim, we’re not the criminals. We didn’t do nothing wrong.”
According to Chicago police, the 35-year-old driver lost control of his Jeep, causing him to hit at least four cars. Police said no citations were issued against the driver, and no one was hurt.
Zelaya said the responding officer did not conduct a field sobriety test on the driver. Police still have not said what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Zelaya plans to file a complaint with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Monday.
