Prosecutors say a 29-year-old man crashed into a median at 80 mph near the University of Illinois Chicago campus and then ran away, leaving his female passenger to suffer in the wreckage for 30 minutes before she was discovered and later pronounced dead.
Hamid Popal, 29, was ordered detained by Judge Deidre Dyer on a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, according to court records.
Authorities said Popal and Lilia Perez were in a brief dating relationship at the time of the September 7 crash, and Perez had celebrated her 24th birthday earlier in the week.
According to a detention filing, Popal rented a 2016 Lincoln MKZ and drove it to a club in the 1400 block of West Lake Street during the early morning hours of September 7. Surveillance video allegedly showed Popal parking the vehicle and scanning his identification to enter the club. Perez arrived a short time later.
Video also showed the pair leaving the club together around 4:30 a.m. and walking back to the Lincoln, according to the detention filing. Popal got behind the wheel, and Perez entered the front passenger seat, prosecutors said.
Just before 5:30 a.m., Popal was driving east in the 1100 block of West Congress Parkway at 80 mph in a 5 mph zone when he slammed head-on into a median across from a UIC parking structure, prosecutors claimed. The impact deployed the front and side airbags and tore off a large portion of the front bumper, according to the filing.
About 3 minutes after the crash, Popal exited the driver’s seat, walked to the passenger side, and removed a liquor bottle, which he threw over the median, prosecutors said, citing video footage. Popal allegedly continued to search the front passenger area while Perez was still seated there, gravely injured.
During that time, another vehicle pulled up and the driver got out to check on the occupants, prosecutors said. Popal allegedly gave a thumbs-up gesture, indicating everything was fine, and the driver returned to her vehicle and left the scene.
Popal then went back to the Lincoln, continued searching inside, removed a backpack from the back seat, and fled on foot, according to prosecutors.
Perez remained in the front passenger seat, critically injured and alone, until a UIC security guard discovered the crashed vehicle about 30 minutes later. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Prosecutors said Popal was on court supervision for DUI at the time of the crash and remains on supervision. They said he has been involved in three traffic crashes causing property damage since 2017 and two crashes involving personal injury since 2022.
Judge Deidre Dyer agreed with prosecutors that Popal posed a danger to the public and ordered him detained while the case proceeds.
