29-year-old North Riverside man killed after motorcycle struck car
Cook County Sheriff’s Police say they’re still investigating a fatal crash involving a car and a motorcycle on July 4 around 3:55 p.m. just north of Brookfield’s northern border on 17th Avenue.
Andrew Garcia, 29, of North Riverside, was killed after his Ducati motorcycle collided with a 2010 Hyundai Elantra driven by a 67-year-old Forest Park woman, who was attempting to turn left onto northbound 17th Avenue from eastbound 26th Street.
The motorcycle had been southbound on 17th Avenue, and Garcia reportedly swerved into the northbound lane of traffic to try to avoid the turning vehicle. The driver of the Hyundai reportedly told police that she did not see any other vehicles before attempting the left turn and that the motorcycle “came out of nowhere.”
Brookfield police were the first emergency personnel to arrive at the scene and found Garcia, who was wearing a helmet, lying about 50 feet from where the crash occurred, surrounded by a group of people attempting to administer CPR.
Paramedics transported Garcia to Loyola University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 4:38 p.m. An official cause of death is “pending,” according to the Cook County Medical Examiner.
Because the crash occurred just north of 26th Street, Brookfield police turned the scene over to Cook County Sheriff’s Police, which has jurisdiction in that section of 17th Avenue.
In response to an inquiry from the Landmark, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the fatal crash but released no other details or whether it had issued any citations to or charges against the other driver, saying only that “Sheriff’s Police are investigating.”
Police closed 17th Avenue to traffic between 23rd Street and 26th Place until about 8:20 p.m. as investigators processed the scene. Cook County called in its crash reconstruction unit to lead the investigation.
An online fundraiser to assist Garcia’s family with funeral expenses can be found at gofundme.com/f/andrew-garcias-funeral-expenses.
Source: Rblandmark
