Drugged Driver Who Caused Fatal 2012 Crash Avoids Prison: Report

A Palos Park man who killed a motorcyclist and injured four other people while he was driving on heroin and Vicodin in a Plainfield crash has avoided a prison term after he was placed on probation and successfully completed substance abuse treatment.

Andrew W. Henderson, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated driving under the influence in 2014. At the time, he was sentenced to nine years in prison, according to The Herald-News.

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Defense Attorney Jeff Tomczak said Henderson went “above and beyond” what he was ordered to do while on probation, adding that he spoke to various groups about using heroin and counseled other people, according to the report.

Henderson caused a July 2012 crash at County Line Road and Route 126 that took the life of 57-year-old Minooka resident Ronald Oswald.

“Henderson was high on heroin and Vicodin when he dropped a milk bottle that lodged under the brake pedal of his Dodge Durango,” according to the report.

He then crashed into the back of of another vehicle, which was sent into the path of Oswald. The occupants of the vehicle suffered various injuries.

The judge decided Monday on no prison time after ruling on a defense motion filed two years ago asking her to reconsider the sentence. Henderson spent more than two years in jail before he began treatment.

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