By Bill Bird
Naperville Sun
NAPERVILLE, Ill. — A senior paramedic with the Aurora Fire Department has been ticketed for running a red light in Naperville earlier this month, causing a crash that toppled the ambulance he was driving and sent a woman’s car hurtling into a row of parked vehicles.
John A. Nagy, 48, of the 0-99 block of Gregory Street in Aurora, was cited for disobeying a traffic control signal in the Jan. 3 collision, Deputy Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres said Tuesday.
Nagy is a 22-year veteran of the fire department. He is assigned to Aurora Fire Station No. 8 on McCoy Drive.
He and a fellow paramedic were slightly injured in the incident. The 52-year-old Naperville woman who was driving the car remained last week in Edward Hospital in Naperville, in what Arres said was stable condition and with “non-life-threatening injuries.”
Police investigators have determined neither alcohol nor narcotics figured in the crash, Arres said.
“There was no criminal element to this,” Arres said. Nagy “committed a traffic violation and was cited accordingly,” he said.
A surveillance video from a nearby business viewed by the Naperville Sun showed the Aurora Fire Department’s Paramedic Unit 8 traveling west on Aurora Avenue about 3:25 a.m. Jan. 3 and running a red light at its intersection with Ogden Avenue. The ambulance then hit a 1998 Toyota Camry being driven by the woman.
The Camry is seen in the video striking and destroying an electronic “Walk/Don’t Walk” pedestrian crossing signal at the northwest corner of the intersection. The car continued moving, striking at least four vehicles in the Woody Buick GMC dealership’s used vehicle parking lot.
The ambulance was returning to its station after dropping off a patient at Edward Hospital in Naperville. Nagy and a fellow paramedic were treated for minor injuries after the crash.
Nagy was placed on administrative leave following the crash, pending the outcome of the Naperville police investigation.
Dan Ferrelli, spokesman for the city of Aurora, said Nagy is “currently off due to the injuries he suffered, and when he returns, he will be placed on administrative leave with pay during the (department’s) internal investigation.”
Nagy could not be reached for comment. He is free on a personal recognizance bond pending his next court date in DuPage County court.
An examination of online court documents revealed Nagy has no criminal record in DuPage, Kane or Will counties.
Police say an Aurora ambulance driver ran a red light, triggering a crash in Naperville earlier this month. https://t.co/HU2TcrZAr7 pic.twitter.com/H9sv4y4cAC
— NapervilleSun (@NapervilleSun) January 17, 2017