Alcohol Ruled Out In Oak Lawn Village Manager Hit-and-Run: Cops

CHICAGO RIDGE, IL — Preliminary breath testing came up clean for the Oak Lawn village manager who is accused of leaving the scene of a traffic accident that left a pedestrian critically injured. Chicago Ridge police said that Larry Deetjen, 70, consented to breath and urine testing when he was taken into police custody at his Oak Lawn home in the hours after the accident Thursday evening.

Police said that the breath test did not show the presence of alcohol. Further lab testing is pending with the urine sample. Deetjen has not yet been charged in the accident, who is said to be cooperating fully in the investigation. Police said that Deetjen has been released from their custody pending charges, if any.

>>> Oak Lawn Village Board Will Meet To Discuss Deetjen's Fate

The Oak Lawn village manager was driving northbound on Harlem Avenue around 8:30 p.m., when he allegedly hit a 48-year-old Worth man crossing the road near Harlem Avenue and 101st Street. The pedestrian was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in critical condition.

A bulletin was issued for a light blue Crown Victoria with municipal plates that witnesses described as leaving the scene. The vehicle was eventually identified as being registered to the Village of Oak Lawn. Police said that a Crown Victoria was later found parked in front of Deetjen’s Oak Lawn condominium building in the 5100 block of West 96th Street. The village manager was taken into custody by Chicago Ridge police, and the vehicle was towed.

According to WGN, police said Deetjen was distracted when he heard a thump but continued to drive. Deetjen lost his wife to cancer in August.

The traffic reconstruction unit is piecing together the accident and charges are under review by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, police said.

Deetjen is being represented by attorney Michael Walsh. Investigators continue to gather evidence of Thursday’s accident.

In December 2013, Deetjen was also driving a village-owned Crown Victoria through Palos Park on a snowy evening, when he lost control of the vehicle and ended up in a ditch. Deetjen and his late wife, Lynn, walked to a nearby store where Deetjen called Oak Lawn Public Works to come tow the vehicle out of the ditch. Another Oak Lawn village employee arrived to give the couple a ride home.

At the time of the 2013 incident, Deetjen was not arrested nor was he cited with a traffic citation for walking away from his disabled vehicle. Chief Joe Miller, of the Palos Park Police Department, said there was no indication that alcohol was involved.

Miller also added that it was also not uncommon for drivers to leave their vehicles and arrange for their own towing after driving off Palos Park’s dark forested roads or striking a deer. Deetjen was not ticketed since the car was not involved in an accident or blocking the roadway.

The Oak Lawn Police Department is cooperating after being advised that a vehicle belonging to the village had been involved in an accident. OLPD Chief Randy Palmer referred all inquiries to Chicago Ridge police.

Oak Lawn Mayor Sandra Bury said her thoughts and prayers are with all involved.