Driver Charged In SUV-Into-Bedroom Crash That Kills Woman
Updated 11/13/10 - 10 p.m.
BOLINGBROOK (CBS) -- A teenager was charged with reckless homicide Saturday after allegedly driving drunk and then crashing through the wall of an apartment building in Bolingbrook, killing a woman as she slept in her bed.
It happened at 2:23 a.m. at an apartment building in the 300 block of Woodcreek Drive in Bolingbrook as Josefina Prospero, 46, and her fiancee, Juan Nicolas, 50, were sleeping, police said.
Prospero was pronounced dead at the scene. Nicolas was treated at a hospital and released. A third person in the residence, Antonio Prospero, 50, also was treated and released from the hospital, police said.
"I said, 'Baby ... where are you?' And I realized she was under the tire. It was on her chest. I said, 'Oh no, baby.' And she was dead," Nicolas told CBS 2.
The 17-year-old driver, who lived at the same apartment complex as the victim, was arrested at the scene. Luis Benito was charged with one-count of reckless homicide Saturday afternoon.
A blood draw was performed on Benito at Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital. "We have signs of alcohol,'' Rompa said.
A passenger who tried to flee the scene was detained and questioned by police.
The apartment is a "sub-basement" type of unit, and the SUV dropped down about 4 or 5 feet after going through the building, according to Rompa.
A witness, who was likely another person in the home with the Prosperos, was able to detain the driver while a male passenger fled on foot. When police got there, the motorist began fighting with the officers and the passenger who fled was apprehended by police, Rompa said.
It was not immediately clear why the SUV was driving in the common area of the apartment complex but Rompa said the driver was southbound at the time of the wreck.
"From what we're getting, the car was driven southbound through the common area and went right past 307 (Woodcreek Dr.) and then went right into 315,'' Rompa said.
Josefina Prospero was pronounced dead at 4 a.m. on the scene, according to the according to the Will County Coroner's office. A Saturday autopsy determined she died of multiple injuries caused by being struck by the SUV.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
