Woman Turns Herself In After Deadly West Side Crash
Updated 07/12/11 - 3:29 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A West Side woman charged in a fatal hit-and-run crash over the weekend said she got "scared" when she hit a man as he crossed the street, so she hid out at her grandmother's house before turning herself in, authorities said Tuesday.
Ashley Johnson, 22, said she had just left a bridal shower when she struck David Bunch with her black 2005 Chrysler 300 as he was crossing the street with a woman in East Garfield Park on Sunday, according to Chicago police.
Johnson was driving 50 to 60 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone, Cook County prosecutors said at a bond hearing for Johnson on Tuesday. She is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and was ordered held on $200,000 bond Tuesday afternoon.
The medical examiner's office said Bunch was waiting for a CTA bus when the car struck him. Police News Affairs Officer Darryl Baety said the black vehicle hit him near an alley.
The impact from the accident was so severe that Bunch went airborne and was flung 120 feet, Assistant State's Attorney Toni Giancola said.
Bunch, of an unidentified home address, was pronounced dead at 3:50 a.m. at Stroger Hospital of Cook County, according to the medical examiner's office.
Following the following the hit-and-run Johnson, 22, continued driving away eastbound on Jackson Boulevard, zipping through a construction zone and striking multiple construction barriers, Giancola said.
At least two witnesses tried to follow her but lost sight of her as she sped away, Giancola said.
Giancola said Johnson drove to her grandmother's house but then went to the Harrison District police station to report the accident about an hour and twenty minutes later.
"I was coming from Lexington and Albany and didn't know how fast I was traveling because I was being chased by a Dodge Charger," Johnson allegedly told police.
"I saw a man running across the street and I hit him. Then I drove and parked behind my grandmother's house."
When Johnson was transported to the hospital to be tested for any alcohol or drugs in her system, a police report said she told officers, "I was driving down Jackson and saw a man in the street. I tried to swerve but hit the man and then became scared and drove to my grandma's house and my grandma told me to come to the police station."
Authorities found the Chrysler with front-end damage and blood and hair on the windshield in an alley behind Johnson's grandmother's home, Giancola said.
Results from a DUI kit were pending, Giancola said.
Johnson, of the 3200 block of West Jackson Boulevard, was arrested at 4:46 p.m. Monday, after she had turned herself in earlier in the day, according to police. She was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, driving without a license, and failure to use due care with a pedestrian in the roadway.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
