The trial of a Glencoe man accused of reckless homicide and aggravated DUI following a January 2012 crash that killed a new bride has been scheduled for this spring.
John Warsaw, 66, is charged with aggravated DUI and reckless homicide stemming from a Jan. 13, 2012 head-on crash that took the life of Shruti Phandis, 26, of Wheeling. Judge James Booras on Tuesday set the trial, which has been beset by delays, for April 20.
Phandis died almost five days after being transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. She had been married the day before the crash in Lincolnshire.
According to police reports, Phandis was a passenger in a vehicle Warsaw struck on Route 21 after allegedly careening through traffic on Route 22 in the Lincolnshire area.
Warsaw’s trial has been delayed 13 times. Defense attorney Don Morrison said the case has “a complicated set of facts” and that Warsaw has had “a number of complicated medical issues” during that time.
Warsaw, who is free on bond, was present at Tuesday’s hearing. Last year, attorneys cited complicated medical evidence and the need for an evidentiary hearing in requesting one of the postponements.
Both Lincolnshire and Buffalo Grove police received numerous 911 calls just before 9 p.m. on the night of the crash by people reporting a reckless driver who was in the wrong lane. Warsaw, driving a Honda CRV, apparently went into a ditch and then a median, where he took out a street sign on Route 22 in Buffalo Grove, according to reports.
He then continued east on Route 22, turned southbound on Route 21, crossed the center line just south of Aptakisic Road and collided head-on with a Toyota Corolla, pushing it into a Jeep Grand Cherokee behind it, police said.
Phandis was a front seat passenger in the Toyota. Other drivers and passengers were treated and released from local hospitals.
The Major Crash Assistance Team of Lake County participated in the investigation, and after the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the charges and an arrest warrant was issued, Warsaw turned himself in and was transported to Lake County Jail.
He was later freed from custody after posting $30,000 bond.
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