Chicago police respond to multiple street racing incidents throughout city
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It was a wild night for police as they responded to multiple calls of street racing throughout Chicago. And a woman died in the chaos.
Marks now cover the intersection at Morgan and Washington in the West Loop. It's one of the many intersections that clearly show where street drifters were doing donuts. The chaos spread from the West Loop to Chinatown to Burbank, where the Chicago Fire Department said one person was hit by a car and died.
Chicago Police say a 27-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were speeding, heading south bound on Cicero near 65th Street. The man changed lanes, hitting the other driver and a 40-year-old woman who was in the crosswalk.
The 40-year-old woman was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center where she died. She has been identified as Shawman Meireis.
A Chicago Police sergeant told CBS 2 the two cars were coming from 50th and Cicero where drivers were street drifting, and the two vehicles were drag racing.
"When we see more and more of these incidents happening, we got to talk about the root causes," said Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez.
The chaos spilled into his district in Chinatown near Lumber and Cermak. He voted for a recent ordinance that says any person who participates in illegal street racing or drifting on any Chicago street or highway or public way could be fined anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 and cars involved can be impounded.
"This ordinance has been in effect since last month, and we see these incidents are not stopping," Sigcho-Lopez said. "They haven't stopped. If anything, they've gotten worse and worse."
The Chicago Police Department tells us six squad cars were damaged as they tried to break up the crowd in Chinatown. Several people gathering, blocking intersections, waking up several neighbors in West Loop like Jo Ann Coughlin.
"It was very frightening. I've always felt pretty safe in this neighborhood until lately," she said.
Coughlin recorded video from her balcony of people drag racing in her neighborhood.
"I'm afraid it's going to happen again, and I'm afraid it's going to escalate and get worse."
According to CPD, the 27-year-old driver faces citations for an obstructed front windshield and pedestrian in the roadway, but that sergeant tells us the driver could also face manslaughter.