Driver In Wrong-Way Ike Crash Charged
MAYWOOD (CBS) -- Already behind bars on a parole violation, a Little Village man was charged Tuesday with a more serious offense—driving the wrong way on the Eisenhower Expressway while drunk and causing a crash that left two women dead.
Miguel Rico, 20, of the 2400 block of South Christiana, was traveling east in the westbound lanes of I-290 just before 2 a.m. Saturday when the van he was driving collided with a car carrying three women from the western suburbs—killing two and leaving the third injured, authorities said.
On Tuesday, he was charged with aggravated DUI and reckless homicide, and ordered held on a $4 million bond, according to Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Lisa Gordon.
At the time of the crash, his blood-alcohol level was more than double the legal limit, according to prosecutors.
Rico had already been wanted on a warrant for violating probation in a 2011 drug case.
On Sunday, while awaiting charges for the accident, a judge ordered him held without bond in that case, court records show.
Killed in the collision were Monica Hernandez, 20, of Maywood; and Briana Resto, 19, of Northlake.
Their surviving friend, 20-year-old Brittney Mouzon, was treated at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn for scratches and bruises, according to an aunt, who told the Sun-Times, "She's sad. They were her two best friends."
Mouzon and Hernandez had been in school together for years, most recently at Proviso East High School in Maywood, according to Hernandez's uncle Richard Medina.
"They went downtown for some fun," Medina said, and the trio were headed home at the time of the crash.
As they did, a red Dodge minivan entered the eastbound lanes and collided with the blue Ford carrying the three women, according to Illinois State Police, who said Resto was driving the car.
Rico and his passenger, a 20-year-old Cicero man, were treated at Loyola University Medical Center, according to the police, who shut down the eastbound lanes of the Eisenhower for several hours after the crash.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
