Chicago — Nearly six years after he fled from Chicago police in River North and crashed into a taxi, killing a Wisconsin doctor, Ammar Hussain has been sentenced to prison.
In a deal with prosecutors that allowed the 32-year-old to avoid a first-degree murder conviction, Hussain pleaded guilty to reckless homicide before Judge James Obbish on January 26, according to court records. Obbish handed him a nine-year sentence.
Prosecutors said Chicago cops tried to pull Hussain over just before 11 p.m. on June 18, 2018, because the SUV he was driving had been reported stolen. Instead of stopping, he sped away, ran a red light at Dearborn and Grand, and slammed into a taxi.
Dr. Diana Lampsa, 66, was in the cab’s back seat, riding back to her long-time boyfriend’s home after seeing a play at the Goodman Theater. She died from her injuries. After the collision, Hussain’s Jeep barreled onto a sidewalk, striking two tourists from England, each of whom suffered a broken leg.
A police spokesperson said in 2018 that Hussain sped away from officers as soon as they turned on their blue lights to pull him over near State and Grand, about a block east of the crash site.
Lampsa, a psychiatrist with a private practice, had been in town to help her boyfriend recover from surgery, the Chicago Tribune reported after the crash.
“She was deeply spiritual, and lived a life dedicated to kindness, compassion, healing, and well being,” an obituary to Lampsa said. “Diana was impulsive, with a heart of gold and lit up any room she entered.”
“She had a love of angels, an angel to many, and will forever be an angel.”
Hussain at Stateville Correctional Center yesterday. His parole date has not been announced, but he can expect his sentence to be reduced by 50% for good behavior. He also received 50 days credit for time accrued before sentencing.
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