hit-and-run crash

In one of the exceedingly rare Chicago hit-and-runs that actually saw an arrest, investigators not only had an image of the van that killed a man, it had a phone number painted on the side – but it still took five years for police to close the case.

Chicago police are far more likely to stop investigating a hit-and-run crash altogether than they are to solve it, records show – leaving victims in the dark even in cases with seemingly obvious clues.

Chicago sees an average of more than 100 hit-and-runs each day, with thousands of crashes every year causing injuries and deaths, city data shows. But those cases are rarely solved – even with seemingly obvious clues.

Newly obtained emails reveal the steps Chicago police took in a deadly hit-and-run case — only after NBC 5 Investigates started asking questions.

Friends of a Chicago woman killed in a hit-and-run crash last year are asking authorities to take action in the seemingly stalled case where police had plenty of leads.

Why do Chicago police solve so few hit-and-runs? In one case, the family of the victim says even now – nearly six months after the crash – investigators have still failed to act on an obvious clue: a license plate they had from day one.

As the alarming menace of hit-and-run crashes in Chicago grows, the number of these crimes that police actually solve remains shockingly low.