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Police Review Surveillance Tapes In Deadly CTA Station Crash

Red Line Service Resumes

POSTED: 5:40 pm CDT April 25, 2008
UPDATED: 7:04 pm CDT April 27, 2008

No charges have yet been filed against a man who crashed a semitrailer into a crowded CTA station, killing two, but police are reviewing surveillance tapes of the incident.

The semitrailer plowed into a crowded bus shelter and elevated Chicago Transit Authority train stairwell during Friday rush hour, and two women were killed in the crash.

  • Video: Two Dead In CTA Crash
  • Video: Driver Questioned
  • Video: Eyewitness Describes Crash
  • Video: Witnesses Share Stories
  • Images: CTA Red Line Crash At Chinatown/Cermak
    (Warning: Graphic Images)
  • Were You There?: Send your images, video to isee@nbc5.com | isee
  • In addition to the deaths, at least 21 others were injured. Witnesses said the truck didn't seem to slow down as it careened into the bus shelter and stairwell at the Chinatown/Cermak station, authorities said.

    The women who died have been identified as Elosia Guerrero, 47, and Delisia Brown, 18. Both deaths were ruled accidental by the medical examiner's office.

    The main entrance to the station remained closed Saturday, but service resumed with an entrance on the south side of the street made available to the public.

    Damage to the station was estimated in the millions of dollars, NBC 5 reported.

    The two women killed apparently were pedestrians walking near the Red Line station, at 138 W. Cermak Road, on the city's South Side, said Fire Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez. They were pronounced dead at the scene, she said.

    Autopsies on the two were scheduled for Saturday morning, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

    The truck driver was identified as 51-year-old Don Wells, who works for White Line Express Limited of Plymouth, Mich., NBC 5 reported. Wells was released late Friday from Stroger Cook County Hospital into the custody of Chicago police. Before leaving the hospital, Wells received a blood alcohol test, which turned up negative, hospital spokesman Sean Howard said. He said Wells refused a urinalysis test.

    "We informed him that he should remain here for further treatment -- he refused," Howard said. "He indicated issues concerning his insurance -- his medical insurance. Therefore, he wanted to be released. He is being released voluntarily, but in the custody of the Chicago Police Department."

    Police led Wells from the hospital in handcuffs, but he was not under arrestnor had he been charged with anything as of Friday evening, policespokesman John Mirabelli said.

    "We are talking to the driver, that is the extent of it to thistime," Mirabelli said.

    Twenty-one people were transported to hospitals, Langfordsaid. Eleven were in critical condition, including four children.Eight adults were in stable condition and two adults were listed in good condition.

    Twenty-one ambulances were called to the scene for an EMS Plan III and Level 1 HazMat, according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Richard Rosado.

    The truck hit pedestrians, then traveled up the stairs of thestation's north stairwell at about 5:20 p.m.

    "Right now this is just a tragic traffic accident," saidChicago Police Department Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson.

    Hazardous materials crews were at the scene because thesemitrailer leaked fuel, Langford said.

    Most of those injured were either in the bus shelter underneaththe elevated train station or in the stairwell of the station,Rodriguez said.

    The logo on the side of the white truck read "XTRA Lease" inred letters. A phone message left after business hours with XTRALease of St. Louis, Mo., was not immediately returned. Thecompany's Web site says it leases trucks to drivers on a short-termbasis

    Witnesses Describe Scene

    Witnesses said the truck didn't appear to slow down before it plowed into the station.

    One eyewitness, David, said the truck was coming from Interstate 90/94, and was exiting at the Chinatown exit. The bus shelter where he was standing is located directly across from the exit. He said the incident occurred approximately 100 feet in front of him.

    "He just very obviously lost control and just kept driving at probably a good 45 to 50 mph right into the station, where everyone was waiting to catch the bus, probably, to go home," David said. "When I turned around, it seemed like everyone had been hit or injured in some way."

    Elliott Reed, 30, was walking on the street when he "heard thebig bang and saw the truck go right into the station."

    Reed said the scene was "surreal," with eyewitnesses askingeach other, "Did you see what just happened?"

    The intersection has a risky reputation because the trafficlights there change quickly, said Meekus Wong, who works at arestaurant located directly in front of the train station.

    "That was always a very dangerous intersection because thetraffic lights switch really fast," she said.

    "I was supposed to take the train. Thank God I took the bus,"she said.

    Judith Marban arrived at the scene shortly after the accident to look for her husband, who was missing. Her husband was found later Friday evening, and it was discovered he was stuck on the train.

    Witness and good Samaritan Dorain Witherspoon lifted a large sheet of glass so rescue workers could try to free three women who were trapped, NBC5's Lauren Jiggetts reported. One of those women died.

    "There was three girls, and I was helping the guys holding the glass up so the fire department could get the bodies out," he said. "Then, they needed some help with pulling one of the bodies out and I helped them pull one -- her head was bleeding real bad."

    Witherspoon said he also saw the truck driver.

    "The state he appeared in was kind of like slumped -- when they pulled him up out of there, they walked him up out of there, and they laid him down on the ground," he said.

    Carley Kaput, who would have been getting off the train at the time of the crash if she had not been delayed at the post office, said the experience left her shaking.

    "It would be one thing if it just crashed into the structure," Kaput said. "But the fact that people are injured, and I heard that they're still trapped, is just insane -- and it's very scary."

    Service Interrupted

    Engineers determined there was no structural damage to theoverhead station, but the stairs sustained "very significantdamage," said CTA President Ron Huberman. Trains on the Red Line,which runs to the city's far South Side from downtown, would notstop at the station until further notice, he said.

    Service on the Red Line was fully restored less than three hoursafter the incident, CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski said.

    The station is just blocks from the city's Chinatownneighborhood and is located near two major expressways, Interstate55 and Interstate 90/94.

    Riders are advised to take the No. 29 State Street bus to Chinatown. CTA has arranged for extra buses.



    Additional information provided by Sun-Times News Group


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