Skateboarder Struck By Car Last Week Dies
CHICAGO (STMW) -- The 42-year-old man who was struck by a car while he was skateboarding in the Wicker park neighborhood a week ago has died, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
Skateboarder Reginald "Reggie" Destin was pronounced dead on Saturday, according to a medical examiner's ofice spokesman. The medical examiner's office did not immediately have any additional information on his death.
Cook County prosecutors said last weekend that Luis P. Pena, 30, who doesn't have a driver's license or insurance, got behind the wheel anyway early in the morning of Friday, Oct. 19, and struck Destin as he rode his skateboard in the 1700 block of North Milwaukee Avenue.
Police officers heard the crash and found Destin, 42, lying in the street in the bike lane after being thrown from his skateboard. Pena allegedly kept driving, but witnesses pointed out his car and officers were able to stop him as he turned west on North Avenue.
Pena smelled like alcohol and had bloodshot eyes but told police he "did not have that many beers," prosecutors said. He also allegedly refused a Breathalyzer. Tests later revealed he had a 0.188 blood-alcohol level — more than twice the .08 legal limit, prosecutors said.
It wasn't the first time Pena was arrested for a DUI. He was convicted of aggravated DUI in 2007. Pena was ordered held in lieu of $400,000 bail last Saturday for the latest charges of aggravated driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident with life threatening injuries. But in light of the latest DUI, Pena was also ordered held without bond for violating probation on another case.
Destin was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. He suffered multiple fractures, including a skull fracture from the accident, according to prosecutors.
When he was hit around 2 a.m. Friday, Destin was riding his skateboard for a couple of blocks so he could get to his parked car after leaving a bar. His friend was about 10 feet ahead of him, according to another friend, professional skateboarder Johnny Fonseca. Destin's companion saw Pena's car swerve into him once and almost hit him. And when he looked back a second time, Destin was hit "dead on," Fonseca said.
Destin is well known in the Chicago skating community and often frequented the skateboard shop Uprise, which is a block from the accident. He's had jobs working for popular skateboard companies and owned a skateboarding shop called Push near Chicago and State in the late 1990s, Fonseca said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
