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Motorist Accused Of Crashing Into Pedestrian In Edgewater Held On $300,000 Bond

(STMW) -- A man charged with reckless homicide for a crash that killed a 71-year-old man and injured four others Wednesday in the North Side Edgewater neighborhood was released from the hospital and taken to the Cook County Jail Friday afternoon.

Vladimir Tsemekhman, 58, was charged Thursday with one count of reckless homicide, a Class 3 felony, according to Chicago Police.

On Friday, he was ordered held on a $300,000 bond by Judge Donald Panarese, who also ordered Tsemekhman to surrender his passport, according to Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

Tsemekhman did not appear in court and remained hospitalized at the time of the hearing, Simonton said. A preliminary hearing was set for Aug. 20.

He was also ticketed for several moving violations, including reckless driving and not practicing due care while a pedestrian was in the roadway, according to police.

Tsemekhman, of the 800 block of West Belle Plaine Avenue, was released from Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center later Friday afternoon and transferred to the Cook County Jail, according to the Cook County Sheriff's website.

The crash, involving multiple vehicles, a CTA bus and pedestrians, happened at Sheridan Road and Balmoral Avenue at 11:12 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

Tsemekhman was driving a red Ford Focus northbound on Sheridan at a high rate of speed when he failed to stop his vehicle at a traffic light at Berwyn Avenue, police said.

He then attempted to drive to the right of a No. 147 bus that was stopped in traffic and struck two pedestrians, who were loading groceries into their trunk outside a food pantry, according to police and CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski. This caused a chain reaction crash involving four other vehicles.

One of the pedestrians, 71-year-old Frank Kiley of the 3900 block of North Clark Street, was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:51 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

Three other people—a 69-year-old woman, a 55-year-old woman and a 64-year-old man—were taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital, where they were treated and released, police said. Another man, 48, was taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital, where he was treated and released.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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