Jury awards $10.5 million to husband of woman hit, killed on bike in Arlington Heights, Illinois
A Cook County jury on Thursday awarded $10.5 million to the husband of a woman hit and killed in a crash in Arlington Heights, Illinois two and a half years ago.
On Sept. 29, 2022, Sylwia Jarosz, 45, was riding her bicycle north on Wilke Road near Lake Cook Road, according to the law form Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard.
Jarosz stopped at a red light at the southwest corner of the intersection, attorneys said. As she waited for the light to change, the driver a landscaping truck owned by AJC Concrete Construction — described at the time as a 2011 Ford F550 — tried to make a left turn from Lake Cook Road onto Wilke Road, attorneys said.
The truck driver did not stop before entering the intersection while going over the speed limit, attorneys said. The driver hit another car — a white 2019 Chevrolet Equinox turning left from westbound Lake Cook Road to southbound Wilke Road, CBS News Chicago reported at the time.
The 2019 Chevrolet Equinox spun around and remained in the eastbound lanes of traffic while the 2011 Ford F550 left the road to the southeast and struck Jarosz, according to reports at the time.
CBS News Chicago reported at the time that the landscaping truck spilled a lot of dirt as it went off the road.
Meanwhile, Jarosz died at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jarosz's husband on March 24, 2023, attorneys said. The defendants admitted liability before trial, and a trial just to determine damages began on Tuesday of this week before Cook County Judge John P. Kirby, attorneys said.
On Thursday, a Cook County jury awarded Jarosz's husband $10.5 million.
"Sylwia was a beloved kindergarten teacher at Long Grove Country School and the cherished wife of her husband, Krzystof. Krzystof and Sylwia were college sweethearts in Poland and moved to the U.S. together in 2005. Krzystof has suffered an unimaginable loss, and every aspect of his life has changed since losing his best friend," plaintiff's attorney Lance D. Northcutt said in a news release. "It was not easy for Kryzystof to relive the worst moments of his life, but we are thankful to the jury for listening to his story and recognizing his grief."
