Man Charged With DUI In Deadly Edens Crash Pleads Not Guilty

SKOKIE, IL — The north suburban man accused of driving drunk when he struck and killed a man on the side of the Edens Expressway pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Skokie. Marco Vital-Tapia, 41, of Zion, has been held without bond at Cook County Jail since he was arrested and charged with five felony counts related to the collision.

Prosecutors charged Vital-Tapia with three counts of aggravated driving under the influence — in a crash involving death, with previous DUI convictions and with a suspended or revoked license. He was also charged with reckless homicide involving a motor vehicle and causing a serious injury crash while driving with a revoked licence with previous convictions.

According to Illinois State Police, Vital-Tapia was impaired on the afternoon of April 19 when a gray Honda he was driving veered onto the shoulder of the inbound lanes of Interstate 94 at Dempster Street, striking a passenger of a tractor-trailer that had pulled over on the side of the expressway.

Abdelrazig Khalil, 55, of Browns Summit, North Carolina, was standing near the front of the truck as its driver climbed atop the trailer to inspect the load. He was struck by the Honda and pronounced dead at the scene.

After fatally striking Khalil, Vital-Tapia kept driving southbound for about a mile before eventually pulling over, according to state police. Another driver on the expressway directed him to pull over and he stopped. Several other motorists then contacted 911 dispatchers in Skokie to report his location.

At the time of his arrest, Vital-Tapia faced a pending charge of driving without a license in connection with a November 2018 arrest in Zion. He forfeited his bond in that case after he was arrested by state police on the Edens crash.

In September 2018, Vital-Tapia pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months of supervision and a fine following another arrest and charge of driving without a license in Gurnee earlier in the year.

The charges Vital Tapia faces include a pair of class 2 felonies — each could bring a sentence of up to seven years in state prison — as well as one class 3 felony and a pair of class 4 felonies. He is due back in court on July 8.

Earlier: Man Charged With Felony DUI In Deadly Crash On Edens Expressway