Chicago — A Lincoln Park man has been sentenced to nine years for killing a 27-year-old cancer survivor and injuring the woman’s friend in a hit-and-run collision in Wrigleyville last year, according to court records.
Brett Dimick, 31, pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to report an accident involving injury or death and one count of involuntary manslaughter. He reported to Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet on Tuesday.
Dimick, who never regained driving privileges after losing them due to a DUI in 2009, was behind the wheel of his BMW SUV when it made a sharp, high-speed turn through a stop sign from Addison Street onto Fremont Street on a sunny day in August 2021, officials said.
Dimick’s car hopped onto the sidewalk and hit Sophie Allen as she walked with her 24-year-old friend. Allen had recently completed chemotherapy for breast cancer. A nearby surveillance camera showed the BMW swerving onto Fremont but did not show the BMW striking the women:
VIDEO: “Oh my God!”
— Steven Graves (@StevenGravesTV) August 15, 2021
A nearby home camera captured what appears to be the SUV making a sharp turn onto N Fremont. The two victims were hit soonafter. Witnesses tell me a lot neighbors jumped in to help.
More on @cbschicago at 10. pic.twitter.com/4OA9QAOlXi
After hitting the women, the BMW continued traveling down the sidewalk until it crashed into a metal fence. A witness saw the driver kick off his flip-flops and run from the scene.
Chicago police collected the shoes and submitted DNA samples for testing. The results came back to Dimick, officials said.
Judge Michael Clancy oversaw Dimick’s case and handed down the sentences: six years for each accident causing injury count, to be served concurrently, plus three years for reckless homicide, to be served consecutively. Dimick’s parole date has not yet been announced by the Illinois Department of Corrections, but he will likely serve about half his sentence after receiving credit for good behavior.
Clancy recommended that Dimick receive drug and alcohol treatment while in prison.
Dimick, who has been convicted of multiple DUIs in the past, was part-owner of a struggling Lincoln Park bar that was hosting a Mario Kart “Drunk Driving” promotion at the time of the crash, according to online records.
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