CHICAGO—A 21-year-old Chicago man accused of ramming into the back of an Uber driver and setting off a chain reaction on the Eisenhower Expressway that left a backseat Uber passenger dead was ordered detained following a pre-detention hearing.
Jose Perez Marin appeared Monday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on charges of aggravated DUI causing death, aggravated DUI causing great bodily harm, and aggravated DUI-no license.
The prosecutor said that the Uber passenger, 25-year-old Benjamin M. Farraday, of Wheaton, and his two friends had been celebrating another friend’s graduation during the night leading up to the crash.
The trio ordered an Uber to take them back to Wheaton. Farraday sat in the back seat behind the driver. Just before the crash, traffic was backed up on I-290 in the westbound lanes near Ashland Avenue, causing vehicles to funnel into the furthest right lane.
Traffic had been at a standstill for about a minute, with the Uber driver having his foot on the brake the entire time. As they sat there lined up in traffic, the prosecutor said Perez Marin, driving a GMC Yukon, slammed into the back of the Uber. The collision sent the Uber vehicle smashing into a Buick, causing the Buick to crash into a Jeep.
An Illinois State Police trooper arrived within a minute of the crash, where the trooper said he saw Perez Marin standing outside his truck helping his fiancée out of the vehicle through a broken window.
The Uber driver and the Wheaton man’s friends had also exited the vehicle, but Farraday was unconscious in the backseat. He was ultimately transported to the hospital but was pronounced deceased due to blunt force trauma from his crash injuries.
Perez Marin admitted being the driver to the trooper, who appeared to have bloodshot eyes and the odor of alcohol on his breath, the prosecutor said. He was transported to Mt. Sinai Hospital for treatment, where the prosecutor said Perez Marin refused a “DUI kit.” However, a blood draw taken during treatment revealed a BAC of .137, according to court documents.
The prosecutor said the Wheaton man’s friend suffered a broken nose, brain bleed, and several stitches on the back of his head. The friend was still hospitalized as of Monday. The Uber driver received stitches on his face as well as a blood transfusion due to blood loss.
The Buick driver, who had her infant child in the car, suffered bruising and soreness, while the baby received cuts to the face. Perez Marin’s fiance and the Uber driver, both identified Perez Marin as the driver of the Yukon, the prosecutor said.
An examination of the Yukon’s Electronic Data Recorder revealed that 2.5 seconds before the crash, the vehicle was traveling 65 MPH, the prosecutor said. The brakes were also shown to have been applied a half second before the crash. At the time of the crash, the Yokun was shown to be traveling 45 mph. The prosecutor said that Perez Marin was also discovered to have never had a valid driver’s license.
In August 2023, Perez Marin received 12 months’ probation for aggravated battery to a police officer when he kicked officers repeatedly in the legs when he couldn’t produce a driver’s license, the prosecutor said.
While on pretrial release for this incident, Perez Marin was arrested twice in violation of his pretrial release conditions. In October 2023, the prosecutor said Perez Marin and others were obstructing traffic, preventing police from escorting a person home. Trash cans were placed in the street as Perez Marin and others circled the police vehicle. He refused to move out of the roadway when ordered to by police, according to court documents.
Later in December 2023, the prosecutor said Perez Marin’s then-girlfriend called 911 and reported that Perez Marin punched and grabbed her by the throat, causing her to have trouble breathing, before he threw her off the bed. Perez Marin was on electronic monitoring at the time for the pending aggravated battery to a peace officer charge. The domestic battery case was later dismissed.
Perez Marin is currently detained at Cook County Jail. His next court hearing is June 10.
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