CHICAGO — A hit-and-run driver left a 17-year-old girl critically injured in Wicker Park on Friday, Chicago police said. And when cops visited the home of the car’s registered owner, his mom told them that he refused to talk to them.
The victim was heading north in the crosswalk at Ashland and Division when the driver turned onto Division and struck her around 10:25 p.m., according to a CPD crash report.
At least nine witnesses spoke with police. Many said the girl initially landed on the hood of the driver’s bright red Mercedes. But she fell from the hood and was dragged by the vehicle, which eventually ran over her, the report said. She came to reset in the middle of Division Street, just west of Ashland.
Chicago Fire Department personnel took her to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. The CPD report said she suffered head trauma, fractured ribs, facial fractures, and a broken bone in her neck.
The driver continued traveling west on Division Street, but the front grill of their 2008 Mercedes C35 fell from the vehicle and remained at the crash scene.
Police released a surveillance photo of the Mercedes on Sunday, saying it has dark rims, a sunroof, tinted windows, and bore Illinois license plate DC60012.
The crash report said witnesses reported that the Mercedes had a black hood, which appears to be confirmed by the photo the police released.
After the crash, CPD investigators went to the registered owner’s home in Belmont Cragin. Their report said his mother answered the door and “stated that her son refused to speak with police.”
Anyone with information about the vehicle or who was driving it at the time of the crash can contact CPD’s major accident investigation unit at 312-745-4521. The case number is JG-369828.