A man has been charged in connection with a high-speed reckless driving crash on Interstate 94 near Lake Forest in August that left one person dead and several injured.
Rafael Perez, 26, of Berkeley, was charged with reckless homicide, a Class 3 felony, and aggravated reckless driving, a Class 4 felony.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved an arrest warrant for Perez on Thursday and Illinois State Police arrested the man at his residence a short time later.
The Illinois State Police and Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Protection District responded around 12:45 p.m. August 2 to westbound Interstate 94 at milepost 21 for a vehicle crash with injuries.
A white 2020 Toyota Camry, driven by Perez, was traveling westbound in lanes one and two at a high rate of speed, according to state police.
Perez lost control of the vehicle and struck a blue 2013 Honda CR-V, which was traveling in lane three.
Illinois State Police said that the impact caused the Toyota to overturn and roll several times before coming to rest on the left shoulder, while the Honda came to rest in lanes two and three.
Perez was ejected from the Toyota and transported to an area hospital with serious injuries. A 21-year-old man from Kewanee was also ejected and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A third person in the Toyota, identified as an 18-year-old Addison woman, was trapped in the vehicle and firefighters had to extricate her. She was then transported to an area hospital with serious injuries.
The driver of the Honda, a 43-year-old Chicago woman, and a passenger in the Honda, a 16-year-old Chicago girl, were both transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, ISP said.
A Lake County judge ordered Perez held in the Lake County jail on a $300,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on December 14.