Hit-and-Run Driver Fatally Strikes Elderly Pedestrian: Police

NILES, IL — A hit-and-run driver fatally struck an elderly pedestrian in Niles Thursday evening, police said. Emergency personnel were dispatched around 6:24 p.m. to the intersection of Greenwood Avenue and Betty Terrace, where a vehicle had just fatally struck a man as he crossed the 8500 block of Greeenwood Avenue from west to east.

Vehicles stopped to avoid the pedestrian as he entered into the northbound lanes, according Cmdr. Robert Tornabene. But as he neared the other side of the street, a white pickup truck or SUV struck the man. A second vehicle then rear-ended the white vehicle, which fled the scene northbound on Greenwood Avenue, police said. The vehicle that struck it from behind stopped and tried to provide aid to the injured pedestrian.

Michael Potwora, 72, of the 8500 block of North Chester Avenue in Niles, was pronounced dead at Lutheran General Hospital shortly after 7 p.m., according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

The North Regional Task Force Major Crash Assistance Team has been called to the scene of the collision to assist with the investigation. Northbound lanes of Greenwood Avenue will remain close until the team's work is complete, police said.

UPDATE: Fatal Niles Crash Was Not Hit-And-Run: Police