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Charges Pending Against Bus Driver Who Hit, Killed Woman

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Streeterville Fatal Bus Accident

Justyna Palka, 26, was killed when this coach bus hit her in Streeterville Tuesday evening. (Credit: CBS)

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CHICAGO (CBS) – Charges are pending against the driver of a private coach bus, which struck and killed a woman in the Streeterville neighborhood Tuesday night.

The bus struck the woman — identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office as Justyna M. Palka – shortly before 7 p.m. at Illinois Street and Columbus Drive, police News Affairs officer Daniel O’Brien said.

The bus was turning onto Columbus Drive at the time.

Palka apparently had the right of way when she was struck by the tour bus, a source said. The driver told investigators he heard a bump, which he thought was a curb, but then stopped the bus, got out and discovered the woman after he heard a second bump, the source said.

There were witnesses to the crash, a source said, but it was not immediately known if anyone was inside the tour bus during the incident.

Palka was taken to nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition. She was pronounced dead at the hospital at 7:04 p.m.

Palka, 26, lived in the 400 block of North McClurg Court, only a little over a block from the crash site.

The bus driver was also taken to Northwestern hospital with unidentified injuries, Near North District police Capt. Jerome Fluder said.

The Linkedin profile for Palka identified her as an graphic designer/art director at Ogilvy & Mather who studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

She is a former art assistant at Chicago Magazine, a creative intern at Ogilvy & Mather and a graphic design assistant at Bockos Design, Inc., according to the profile.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

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  • Joe Patroni

    Charges? Unless the driver was chemically impaired to a degree he could not safely and reasonably opeate a motor vehicle, he will be merely ticketed with hitting a pedestrian in the roadway. A petty offense. Not charges. Motion State, SOL.

  • Jey

    Sad story, but a lot of people that walk downtown can be ignorant and careless. they walk real slow while crossing. i always run to avoid being flattened.

  • lon

    how could he have not seen her? look now big those windows are in that bus. he was not paying attention to his driving that’s all. sadly, an accident happened.

  • http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/05/05/bus-driver-in-deadly-accident-now-charged-with-child-sex-abuse/ Bus Driver In Deadly Accident Now Charged With Child Sex Abuse « CBS Chicago

    [...] David Soto, 47, of the 8600 block of West Berwyn Avenue, has been charged with one count of aggravated driving under the influence resulting in death, in connection to the crash on Tuesday that killed Justyna M. Palka, 26, at Illinois Street and Colum… [...]

  • Neal

    Latest news: The driver tested positive for cocaine, furthermore had several sexual abuse charges of children against him. Why is he on the street, let alone driving a tour bus? What kind of company gave such a man a job?

    He was high on crack, and therefore didn’t “see” the poor woman. Truly Shocking.

  • http://blog.ladesignandcoding.com/charges-pending-against-bus-driver-who-hit-killed-woman Charges Pending Against Bus Driver Who Hit, Killed Woman | LA Design & Coding | Blog | 323-739-4167

    [...] Charges Pending Against Bus Driver Who Hit, Killed Woman Charges are pending against the driver of a private coach bus, which struck and killed a woman in the Streeterville neighborhood Tuesday night. Read more on CBS Chicago [...]

  • Arianna

    How sad. The man was on cocaine and probably wasn’t even paying any attention to the road. I hope he does go to prison, but if you hear a bump don’t you normally look out the window to see what happened? Even if you don’t get out of the car/bus. It’s just common sense people!

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