Man Driving 122 MPH At Time Of Crash That Killed Glenview Teen: CCSAO

GLENVIEW, IL — A Northbrook man, charged last week in a crash that killed a Glenview teenager on Mother's Day, was driving 122 mph at the point of impact with Marko Niketic's car. According to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, Taeyoung Kim remains detained in the Cook County Jail and is due back in court Friday.

Kim was in court Saturday for a conditions hearing and received no bond.

Kim was charged with three felonies, including aggravated driving under the influence causing death, as well as numerous traffic citations stemming from the May 12 crash. Kim, who was driving a 2021 Ford Mustang, crashed with a car driven by Niketic, 17, a senior at Glenbrook South High School.

Niketic, who was traveling with his girlfriend, 16, in the passenger seat, was struck by Kim near the intersection of East Lake Avenue and Meadow Lane in Glenview. Niketic died from his injuries at the scene. His girlfriend sustained a subarachnoid hemorrhage, hematoma of the brain, a fracture of the pelvis vertebrae, and hyper-density of the left frontal lobe of the brain with loss of consciousness and seizure. Prosecutors said in a proffer she was released from the hospital on Friday.

A passenger in Kim's car suffered a fracture to his back and a severed artery.

RELATED: Northbrook Man Charged In Crash That Killed Glenview Teen — Police

According to the proffer, Kim's car had its own dashcam, which captured events before and after the crash. At around 8 p.m., Kim is seen traveling near his home in Northbrook, and then traveling to downtown Chicago. The dashcam catches the Mustang reportedly missing a red light at Roosevelt Road just before 11 p.m. The Mustang then drives at a high rate of speed on Ida B. Wells Drive, passing numerous vehicles, and making a U-turn before merging onto Interstate 90-94 westbound toward Wisconsin. The car continues traveling at a high rate of speed, passing numerous vehicles.

Soon thereafter, prosecutors say the Mustang merged onto I-94 at the I-90/I-94 split, exiting at Lake Avenue in Glenview at 11:06 p.m. Kim continues driving westbound on Lake Avenue and passes another motorist driving in the same direction. That motorist saw the Mustang increase speed and turn off its headlights, with the dashcam clocking as high as 131 mph prior to impact with Niketic's car. The speed details were found later in the car's black box following a police search warrant of the vehicle.

At the intersection of East Lake Avenue and Meadow Lane, Niketic is seen on a private surveillance camera activating his left turn signal and entering the intersection from Meadow Lane to turn onto Lake Avenue. Kim then enters the intersection at a high rate of speed with his headlights off, before they turn back on as the Mustang crashes into Niketic's car. Prosecutors said the Mustang's dashcam captures the car entering the intersection, and then making impact, before going black.

The front of the Mustang struck Niketic's car with such impact that it split the latter's car in half, with the front half remaining in the road and the back half breaking through a fence and entering a nearby backyard.

The witness in the car that Kim's car had previously passed saw the crash. Kim's car crashed into a tree after impact. Prosecutors said "numerous" people who lived in the area heard the "loud" crash, came outside to see the damage, and called 911. They said Niketic appeared dead, and his girlfriend was alive with "substantial" injuries. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Niketic was pronounced dead at the scene.

At least two witnesses saw Kim in the driver's side of the Mustang, and one said he told them his name and admitted that he had been drinking, according to prosecutors. His passenger was seen lying on the ground, "bleeding heavily." Kim got out of his car, sat on the ground just outside the driver's side of the car, which is seen on the body cam of responding police officers. Kim sustained a broken femur.

Prosecutors said Kim's blood was drawn while he was receiving treatment and his blood alcohol converted to 0.088. The blood also reportedly showed the presence of cannabis.

While searching through Kim's car, police said the speedometer's max listed was 120 mph, and the needled was stuck at 120. Inside the car, police also found a bong, rolling papers, a one-hitter cannabis pipe with cannabis residue, and two plastic containers with cannabis residue.

According to CCSAO, Kim had two "petty" traffic offenses from Lake County in 2021 — one for speeding and one for disregarding a traffic control device. Kim, who had no other criminal history prior to the May 12 incident, received supervision for the Lake County offenses.

Kim has been charged with the following:

• 2 counts of aggravated driving under the influence causing death
• reckless homicide
• aggravated DUI causing great bodily harm
• DUI alcohol
• DUI with a blood alcohol concentration level of .08 or more
• DUI drugs
• speeding (35+mph)
• reckless driving
• driving without lights when required
• improper lane usage
• failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident

RELATED:

• 2nd Driver In Fatal Glenview Crash Receiving Medical Treatment: Police
• Witnesses Of Crash That Killed Glenview Teen Sought — Police
• Glenview Obituary: Marko Niketic, 17
• GBS Student Dead, 2 Critically Injured In Glenview Crash: Police