Man charged after woman dies in crash
by CYRYL JAKUBOWSKI and KEVIN GROSS
A man was charged with aggravated DUI and reckless homicide with a motor vehicle after his pickup truck crashed into a Toyota in the afternoon on Aug 26 in the 6200 block of West Gregory Street, killing a woman and injuring her two children, according to police and the state’s attorney’s office.
A 33-year-old woman was a passenger in a 2012 Toyota in the rear middle seat with her daughters, age 3 and 6, driven by a relative west on Gregory Street when it was struck by a 2019 Dodge Ram truck driven by a 58-year-old man, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Chicago Police Department Office of News Affairs.
Prosecutors said that the truck crossed over the double yellow line and into the westbound lane directly towards the Toyota driving at 30 miles per hour and struck the car at 47.2 miles per hour head on, according to data obtained from both vehicles.
The force of the impact caused the Toyota to spin and end up on the parkway and the truck rolled over and ended up on its roof, according to police and the state’s attorney. The driver of the vehicle, a 40-year-old woman, and the two children sustained non-life threatening injuries, police said. The 33-year-old woman was transported to Amita Health Resurrection Medical Center where she was pronounced deceased at 5:14 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.
The woman was identified by the medical examiner as Bat Ulzii Baljinnyambuu, age 33, of the 6100 block of West Eastwood Avenue, and her death was ruled an accident.
The driver of the pickup truck was extricated from his vehicle and treated at Saint Francis Hospital and after a blood test it was discovered that he was driving with opiates and benzodiazepines in his system, prosecutors said. According to published reports, he may have a medical condition.
The suspect was identified by police and the state’s attorney’s office as Gerry Michalek, age 58, of the 6100 block of North Ottawa Avenue. He was charged with reckless homicide with a motor vehicle, aggravated DUI causing accidental death, a misdemeanor DUI alcohol/intoxicated with a compounding drug, and citations for failing to keep in lanes or reduce speed, according to police.
