A suspected mail thief sped away from Chicago police at nearly 75 mph, ran a red light, and crashed into another car, killing a man on the Northwest Side earlier this year, prosecutors said as they filed charges against the man.
Officials said a woman called 911 around 5:30 a.m. on February 20 after seeing a man tampering with mailboxes in the 3200 block of North Rockwell Street and traveling in an SUV with Colorado license plates. Responding officers soon spotted an SUV matching that description nearby.
Prosecutors said the driver, identified as 31-year-old Daron Lipscomb, sped away on Elston Avenue at about 75 mph in a 30 mph zone. At the intersection with Kedzie Avenue, Lipscomb allegedly ran a red light and slammed into a Toyota Prius traveling south on Kedzie.
Ali Abdullah, a 25-year-old Naperville resident who was riding in the Prius, was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died from his injuries. His 37-year-old driver suffered a fractured pelvis and cuts to his face. According to a GoFundMe campaign, the driver spent 20 days in an intensive care unit, underwent multiple surgeries, and was not expected to work for several months. According to social media posts, Abdullah worked as an IT specialist and was on his way to work when he was killed.
Lipscomb ran from the scene, heading west on Addison Street, according to a CPD crash report. Police recovered multiple pieces of mail from the SUV that were addressed to residents living near the block where the 911 caller reported seeing someone tampering with mailboxes, according to a separate CPD case report.
The officers who responded to the mail theft call identified Lipscomb in a photo lineup later that same day, according to the case report. But authorities did not immediately find Lipscomb. This month, a U.S. Marshals Service task force set up surveillance outside his mother’s home and arrested him when he left the residence.
Judge James Murphy III ordered Lipscomb detained on charges of reckless homicide by motor vehicle, two counts of failure to report an accident involving death, and leaving the scene of an accident.
