Chicago Injury Lawyer Blog

A Westmont man was killed yesterday when his car was struck by a westbound freight train leaving Chicago. The motor vehicle accident occurred at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Cass Avenue and the BNSF Railway tracks located between Burlington Avenue and Quincy Street in Westmont. According to the DuPage County Coroner’s Office, 91 year-old Louis Lome was killed when the train collided with his silver sedan on the tracks. Lome’s car was subsequently dragged down the tracks past the Westmont Metra passenger platform. The circumstances surrounding the accident remain under investigation however several witnesses have reported that Lome may have been attempting to circumvent the railway crossing gates when the accident occurred.

Railway director of public relations Steve Forsberg reports that the westbound freight train was empty after having carried coal to Chicago. The train was allegedly traveling between 35 and 40 mph at the time of the fatal collision. Forsberg claims that the gates and warning signals had been tested and were in working order. The accident caused significant problems for inbound Chicago Metra trains resulting in delays of up to an hour and fifteen minutes.

According to Illinois Operation Lifesaver, a non-profit public education program established to end collisions and deaths at railroad crossings, Illinois ranks fourth among the top 15 states for rail crossing collisions. The non-profit reports that Illinois suffered 151 highway-rail grade crossing collisions in 2007. About half of these collisions occurred while warning signals were flashing or train gates were down.

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Posted by Joseph G. Klest | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Train Accident

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Kevin Skowron, a 22 year-old Chicago area man, was charged Monday with predatory criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual assault stemming from two separate incidents at the Buehler YMCA in Palatine, Illinois. Bail was set at $350,000 for Skowron, a resident of the 1800 block of West Ashbury Lane in Inverness. Skowron is accused of sexually molesting a 4 year-old girl last Saturday and a 7 year-old girl last month while working as a swim instructor at the suburban Chicago YMCA. Skowron has been a swimming instructor with the YMCA since 2004.

Authorities were led to Skowron following a physical altercation between Skowron and the father of a 4 year-old girl. According to reports, the 4 year-old told her mother that Skowron had initiated inappropriate physical contact during her swimming lesson. The girl’s mother informed YMCA officials of the incident and called the father who was at home. At that point, the father allegedly drove to the YMCA to confront Skowron and punched him in the face. No charges have been filed against the girl’s father.

The incident does not represent the only time that Skowron has been the subject of a molestation accusation. A 7 year-old girl claimed that Skowron made inappropriate physical advances toward her during a swim lesson last October. The girl’s parents subsequently informed the YMCA which called the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). According to Palatine police Commander Kurt Schroeder, the incident prompted the Palatine Police Department to begin an investigation with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Child Advocacy Center. During the course of this investigation, the 7 year-old was unable identify Skowron. If the YMCA knew or should have known of the prior allegations against Skowron they could be liable for significant civil damages. The Palatine Police Department is currently working with the State's Attorney's Office to determine if there are any other victims.

Continue reading " Inverness, IL, YMCA Swim Instructor Charged with Sexually Abusing Two Young Girls " »

Posted by Joseph G. Klest | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Sexual Abuse

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Tragedy struck North Lawndale College Preparatory High School on Chicago’s West Side last Friday November 14th as the school lost three of its most promising students. The young men were attending a school-sponsored eight-day retreat at suburban Camp Algonquin in Algonquin, IL. According to reports, the teens launched several paddleboats into the nearby Fox River in the middle of the night. The boats had been winterized and therefore each was missing a cork-sized bottom plug necessary for proper flotation. One of the boats was quick to take on water and capsize. Reports indicate that two boys on the shore attempted rescue and went missing soon thereafter. Ultimately, three boys drowned in the river.

According to the director of the camp, the thirty-one students on the retreat were accompanied by four adult chaperones from the school. The chaperones were asleep when a group of the boys launched six boats into the river. In his investigation of the incident, Sgt. Brett Scroggins of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources reports that the paddleboats had not been securely stored away, but rather left on the ground near the cabins. Fire Department Officials found all six boats along the banks of the river and are still investigating the total number of students that were involved in the tragedy.

The drowning victims, 18 year-old Jimmie Avant, 17 year-old Melvin Choice III, and 16 year-old Adrian Jones, have been described as successful students who planned to attend college. The teens were active in a high school group called Minority Men consisting of about thirty scholastically inclined students who help each other with academic work, travel to visit colleges together, and attend leadership events such as the Algonquin retreat. The successes of these young men is, in part, a reflection of North Lawndale Prep High – a small west side charter school boasting a nearly 100 percent graduation rate. The school has been described as a model of success for charter schools in the City of Chicago. The retreat was run by Vision quest, a national organization devoted to working with teens.

Posted by Joseph G. Klest | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Drowning , Wrongful Death

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A Cook County Judge has approved a settlement awarding the families of two deceased Chicago Metra riders $11 million dollars in the wake of a fatal train derailment that occurred on September 17, 2005. The settlement, which was entered on November 12th, was reached just as the two wrongful death lawsuits were scheduled for trial. The suits were brought by the families of Jane Cuthbert, a 38 year-old research technician from New Lenox, and Allison Walsh, a 22 year-old student from Oak Forest. Cuthbert and Walsh are just two of the more than 100 victims of the train derailment. By the terms of the settlement, Walsh’s family will receive $5 million dollars while Cuthbert’s will receive $6 million. Walsh and Cuthbert were the only two deaths resulting from the 2005 train derailment.

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has revealed that the primary cause of the accident was operator failure. More specifically, the investigation determined that the train operator failed to conduct the train in accordance with signal and speed restrictions. The derailment occurred on Metra’s Rock Island train route between Joliet and Chicago at the 48th Street crossover. At the time of the accident, the train was traveling 60 mph over the 10 mph maximum speed posted at the crossover. The NTSB also cited Metra’s failure to install a satellite-based safety system designed to override human error as a cause of the accident.

The settlement represents only the tip of the iceberg for Metra as approximately 35 Chicago personal injury lawsuits related to the derailment remain pending. Since the 2005 derailment tragedy, Metra has instituted a more comprehensive training program and upgraded operation technologies. The improvements, however, do not include a satellite emergency override system to combat operator error. The commuter line is presently awaiting federal approval for an emergency system to be installed next August.

Posted by Joseph G. Klest | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Train Accident

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