This future MacArthur Fellows Grant winner comes to us courtesy of the TribLocal.
Man arrested after idling van full of kids crashes into cars
A 30-year old Chicago man was arrested and charged with endangering the life and health of a child after a carload of kids were left in an unattended minivan that crashed into two other cars while he was in a restaurant ordering food, Downers Grove police said Thursday.
According to police, the vehicle was running and in gear while five children ranging in age from 5 to 11 were inside the van, police said.
Richard Lopez Jr., of the 4200 block of Richmond Avenue, was arrested on the misdemeanor charge on Jan. 22 at 7:45 p.m., outside a restaurant in the 1300 block of Butterfield Road shortly after the incident occurred, police said.
According to police, a witness had tried to jump in the van to prevent it from striking the two cars, but to no avail.
Lopez has a court date scheduled for Feb. 23 at the DuPage County Court House. He was released by police after his arrest.
story originally posted Brian Slodysko, TribLocal reporter
truly pathetic..he should have stayed in chicago instead of making a trip to the ‘burbs…the chicago cops probably wouldn’t even have notice the van crashing into other cars.