A Waukegan man was charged with driving under the influence after he drove through a stop sign, struck an embankment and crashed into the Benton Township Assessor’s Office in Beach Park last year, killing his passenger.
Juan C. Aguiar, 37, of the 1100 block of Mary Jane Lane in Waukegan, was charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, aggravated driving under the influence of drugs and aggravated driving under the combined influence of alcohol and drugs.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office was called around 2:30 a.m. May 12, 2019 to Green Bay Road and Kenosha Road in Beach Park for a single-vehicle crash.
Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli said that a red 2014 Nissan Altima, driven by Aguiar, was traveling southbound on Kenosha Road when the man failed to yield at the stop sign at Green Bay Road.
The car crossed Green Bay Road, struck an embankment and then hit the Benton Township Assessor’s Office building, located at 40020 North Green Bay Road. The Nissan suffered heavy damage.
Aguiar was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville by a Flight For Life medical helicopter with life-threatening injuries, Covelli said at the time of the crash.
The front seat passenger, a 23-year-old Lake Geneva, Wisconsin man, was transported to Vista East Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. The back seat passenger, Oscar Ambriz, 23, of Round Lake Beach, was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Tuesday, Lake County Sheriff’s Traffic Crash Investigators met with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office to review the facts and evidence collected during the investigation, Covelli said.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the charges against Aguiar, who was driving under the influence of cocaine and alcohol, toxicology results showed.
A judge approved an arrest warrant for Aguiar, who was then taken into custody without incident at his residence Tuesday evening.
Aguiar remains held in the Lake County Jail on a $750,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon.