Investigators say charges have been filed against a woman that was allegedly driving an SUV that struck and killed a 22-year-old Lake Forest College student near Vernon Hills in October.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office traffic crash investigators concluded their investigation into the incident, which took hundreds of investigative hours, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.
The investigation led them to Amanda Cisneros-Elacio, 20, of the 800 block of East Old Willow Road in Prospect Heights.
The investigation indicated Cisneros-Elacio was driving a 2014 Audi Q5 when it struck Wojciech Glowik, 22, of Glenview.
Covelli said at the time that deputies responded to a call of a person down in the 200 block of Route 45 in Indian Creek around 2:10 a.m. on October 9.
Deputies arrived to find Glowik unconscious after he had been struck by a vehicle near Route 45 and Evergreen Drive.
The Countryside Fire Protection District transported Glowik by ambulance to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he later died.
An autopsy confirmed Glowik died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to Lake County Coroner Jennifer Banek.
Glowik was taken off a ventilator at Advocate Condell Medical Center and pronounced dead two days after the crash.
A preliminary investigation shows the man was walking on or near the roadway when he was struck by the passing Audi that was traveling southeast on Route 45, Covelli said.
The driver of the Audi, now identified as Cisneros-Elacio, did not stop after striking Glowik and continued southeast on Route 45.
Covelli said on Tuesday that an “extensive investigation” by sheriff’s crash investigators and sheriff’s detectives confirmed Cisneros-Elacio was responsible for striking Glowik and fleeing from the scene.
Following the conclusion of the investigation, which consisted of dozens of interviews, subpoenaed records, records obtained via search warrant, reviewing video surveillance and more, sheriff’s crash investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Cisneros-Elacio on Monday.
A Lake County judge set bond on the warrant at $500,000 for the charge of failure to report a crash causing death.
Cisneros-Elacio was arrested by sheriff’s crash investigators at her residence without incident.
She remains held in the Lake County Jail on a $500,000 bond pending an initial court hearing scheduled for Tuesday morning.
“I am very proud of our traffic crash investigators and sheriff’s detectives who were relentless in their pursuit to locate the person responsible for leaving the scene of this deadly crash,” Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said.
“If the driver had only stopped and called for help, maybe the young man who died would have had an opportunity to survive. I hope this arrest provides the victim’s family with the first steps toward closure,” Idleburg said.
Glowik was a senior at Lake Forest College majoring in business finance.
He was working as a cashier in Prospect Heights at Deli 4 You Market and had recently begun working in their accounting office, the company said.
“No words can describe how much you will be missed, Wojtek. We are devastated to not be able to see your smile again. We miss you and love you,” the company said in a statement following the crash.
A GoFundMe account was started as a memorial fund by Alec Petitpren, who is a family member of Glowik.
“He was an extremely hard-working and driven young man with entrepreneurial career aspirations to one day open a business of his own. He was the most kind young man most people had ever met with nothing negative to say about anyone,” Petitpren said.
Glowik’s family said in a statement to ABC7 Chicago that he was “humble, kind, sweet, smart and handsome.”
“We still feel his presence and are so devastated he did not come home to us,” the statement said.