Drunk-Driving Teacher Hits 2 Sisters Walking to School, Then Drives Away: Cops

A 26-year-old Chicago Public Schools teacher faces several misdemeanor charges after drunkenly striking two girls with his car as they walked to school this week, according to police.

Matthew Lucchini drove away after getting out of his car to look at the girls, the younger of whom was sent flying through the air, according to witnesses. A car was stopped at the crosswalk to let the girls go by, and Lucchini sped around the stopped car, NBC Chicago reports.

Lucchini, of the 2300 block of Remington Drive in Naperville, is charged with:

• misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol
• misdemeanor leaving the scene
• misdemeanor failure to yield the right of way to pedestrians in a crosswalk
• misdemeanor negligent driving

Matthew Lucchini

Jazmine Oquendo, 14, described her terror to WGN News.

“I saw my sister laying there on the other side of the street, and I remember I tried to get up, but I couldn’t. It was just really scary ‘cause I just saw her laying there and I thought she was dead,” she said.

The incident took place in the 3400 block of North Austin Avenue in Portage Park on the Northwest Side near the Chicago Academy charter school, which includes an elementary school and a high school.

Lucchini is a gym teacher in CPS at Locke Elementary School, where he’s worked for three years. Police said he was taken into custody near where the girls were struck.

The girls’ brother, Angelo, saw the car hit his sisters, according to NBC Chicago.

“He hit them and then got afraid,” Angelo said. “He got out of the car to see what happened and when the cops came he got in his car and tried to get away.”