Returning to the intersection of Pulaski and Berteau in Chicago's Old Irving Park community is not easy for Katie Jordan.
“That was definitely the most difficult time of my life,” Jordan said. “To see him laying in the crosswalk and to see her about 15 feet down the road.”
That day was Sept. 30, when Jordan’s husband, Kurt Steiner, and their 8-year-old rescue dog, Echo, had been hit while crossing the street while using the crosswalk. Police said the driver of a Grand Mercury Marquis ran the pair down, never slowing or stopping to help.
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Steiner broke two bones in his leg and suffered a compression fracture in his spine. Echo did not survive.
“Accidents happen, they happen,” Jordan said. “It’s not acceptable to flee the scene of an accident. It’s not acceptable to not apologize.”
Police impounded the car allegedly involved in the crash two weeks ago, but no one has been arrested.
Local
Earlier this year, NBC 5 Investigates and its Left for Dead series found that Chicago police make arrests in 0.3 percent of hit-and-run crashes across the city. That is an arrest rate more than 25 times lower than that of Los Angeles.
“When I was walking around, trying to gather information, there were business owners who told me this was not the first hit-and-run at this intersection,” Jordan said. “That’s heartbreaking to me.”
Jordan is still on the quest for justice.
She is channeling her grief by pushing for cameras to be installed at the busy intersection.
Jordan hopes to make another family’s daily walk with their dog much safer.
“I feel having a camera here will help speed the investigation along, and get justice,” she said. “If something like this happens to someone else, or at least, help people to slow down.”
