A day after a hit-and-run crash that left a 17-year-old bicyclist seriously injured, witnesses are still in shock after seeing the horrific aftermath.
The incident occurred in the city’s Ravenswood neighborhood on Thursday afternoon, according to Chicago police. Authorities say the teen was riding southbound on Western Avenue when an unidentified person, driving a gray Lexus SUV, turned onto Montrose, striking the bicyclist and sending them sprawling to the pavement.
“We saw him just laying there. I got to the window and was immediately like ‘it doesn’t look good,’” witness Vickie Curtis says.
Curtis was one of several witnesses to the incident, which ended with the driver of the SUV fleeing down the street, with numerous witnesses in hot pursuit.
“(Several) guys chased him,” witness Darrell Sims says. “They were working and they chased him. Another man in a car did too.”
No one was able to catch up with the suspect, and the ones who were left at the scene were horrified as they tried to comfort and give aid to the teen.
“Two other guys rolled him over,” Sims says. “I was right there talking to him. He was gurgling on his own blood. So they moved him and he was groaning. He looked really bad. It was a bad hit.”
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Police are still searching for the vehicle, described as a four-door SUV with a sunroof and mirror tinted windows. The rear window of the vehicle was shattered in the crash, and the front door may have also suffered damage.
As police try to track down the driver responsible, those who witnessed it are stunned that someone could just drive away from this type of tragedy.
“Be a human being,” Curtis says. “Tell someone, ‘I’m sorry I had an accident.’ You shouldn’t have run. How do you run when you hit somebody and almost kill them?”
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to call the Chicago Police Major Accident Investigation Unit at 312-745-4521.
