DUI charges filed after van rams rig taking patient to hospital
By Monifa Thomas
Chicago Sun Times
Copyright 2007 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
A 46-year-old man is dead after the ambulance taking him to a Joliet hospital early Saturday was struck by a van driven by a Seattle man now charged with aggravated DUI, police said.
The driver of the van, 40-year-old Eric Perry, and four others suffered minor injuries in the crash.
The patient in the ambulance, David T. Powers, of Joliet, was being taken to Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet because he was suffering from heart problems and possibly other complications, Joliet Police said.
It was not clear whether Powers was killed in the crash or died earlier as a result of his medical condition.
An autopsy is scheduled for today.
The accident happened around 12:10 a.m. at Jackson and Collins streets in the southwest suburb.
Police said Perry’s Kia minivan blew through a red light at the intersection and T-boned the ambulance, causing it to flip over and hit two other vehicles.
Alcohol that apparently had been thrown from Perry’s vehicle was recovered by police after the crash, authorities said.
Perry and his passenger were taken to Silver Cross with minor injuries, along with three members of the ambulance crew. All five were treated and released Saturday afternoon.
Powers was pronounced dead at Silver Cross at 12:46 a.m.
Upon his release from the hospital, Perry was arrested and charged with aggravated driving under the influence, Joliet Police Lt. Tab Jensen said. Perry also was charged with failure to yield for an emergency vehicle, disobeying a traffic control device and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, police said.
The driver of one of the other vehicles in the crash, Leonardo Ezqueda, 25, also was charged with driving under the influence, Deputy Police Chief Patrick Kerr said.