Oak Lawn Man Charged In Crash That Killed His Two Best Friends

PALOS TOWNSHIP, IL — An Oak Lawn man was charged in a fatal traffic accident that killed two men in Palos Township earlier this week. Prosecutors said the man had a blood alcohol content of .193.

Stephen Rodriguez, 23, appeared before Cook County Judge John Gallagher on four felony counts of aggravated DUI involving a fatal accident. If convicted, each count carries a six- to 28-year prison sentence. Only under extraordinary circumstances is the offense probational, the prosecutor said.

According to the charges, around 12:48 a.m. May 1, Rodriguez and his two friends were driving eastbound on 107th Street and 104th Avenue in unincorporated Palos, when Rodriguez lost control of the vehicle. The prosecutor said the car crossed into the lane of oncoming traffic, where it drifted off the road. The vehicle hit a tree stump causing it to flip over.

Reginald Leslie, 28, of Evergreen Park, was ejected from the vehicle. He was found pinned under the front of the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Rodriguez and Piotr Przeslica, 22, were both found in the front seat of the the car. The prosecutor said the men had to be extricated from the vehicle. Przeslica, of Hickory Hills, died later of his injuries at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

The prosecutor said the three men had apparently been drinking before the accident. Police found a receipt from Twin Peaks Restaurant in Oak Brook inside the vehicle. The $155 bar tab included rounds of Stella Artois, Long Island ice tea, Grey Goose vodka, Johnny Walker and chicken wings.

Rodriguez allegedly admitted to Cook County Sheriff’s Police that he had blacked out before the accident. Three seconds before the crash, the vehicle’s black box indicated it had been traveling at 94 mph, the prosecutor said.

Rodriguez’s attorney said his client grew up in Oak Lawn and graduated from Oak Lawn Community High School. He is a recent graduate of salon school and volunteered reading to kids at a local children’s museum.

“The men who were killed are his best friends,” the attorney said. “He’s feeling it.”

Rodriguez has a prior misdemeanor conviction for DUI in 2014, for which he received a year’s supervision that terminated in 2015. The prosecutor said the state would object to any I-bond, and if Rodriguez did make bond, that he before subjected to random drug testing, blood draws and wearing an alcohol-detection device.

Rodriguez’s attorney said his client would have no problem with any of those conditions. He asked for a reasonable bond that Rodriguez’s family could afford.

The attorney said Rodriguez would be living with his parents in Oak Lawn if released on bond. In addition to his parents, 15 other residents and friends were in court.

“Everyone will keep an eye on him,” the attorney added. “He’s not a flight risk. The SCRAM device would protect the safety of the community.”

“This is his second allegation of DUI in three years,” Gallagher said. “I find him to be a danger to the community.”

Bail was set at $500,000, along with electronic home monitoring and wearing an alcohol-detective device, and no alcohol. Rodriguez is due back in court May 25 in Bridgeview.