A woman charged in a crash on Interstate 294 that killed an off-duty Chicago Ridge police officer last month has been ordered to surrender her passport and is barred from driving for the duration of the case.
Sara Lopez, 22, of Bristol, Ill., who is charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI, appeared Saturday for a bond hearing in connection with the death of Steven Smith, 27, in the Sept. 13 crash near Hillside.
Cook County Circuit Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered Lopez held in lieu of $350,000.
Assistant State’s Attorney Sean Brady said in court Saturday that Lopez, who had recently left a bar in Rosemont, was driving her Toyota Camry southbound on I-294 near Cermak Road about 3:45 a.m. when she swerved into the northbound lanes and hit a Dodge Neon. Brady said the Camry “struck the (other) vehicle head-on.”
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Lopez had non-life-threatening injuries but Steven Smith, 27, a passenger in the Neon, was killed in the incident. The driver of the Neon, Smith’s cousin, survived. Smith and his cousin were on their way back from a wedding, Brady said.
He also said that emergency responders, police and witnesses at the scene observed Lopez appearing intoxicated and that she said she did not recall driving the car.
Lopez’s blood alcohol content was .21 and she later blew a .185 at the hospital, Brady said.
Liam Dixon, Lopez’s attorney, said she has “absolutely no criminal history,” and added that she voluntarily surrendered herself to the police. Dixon originally requested bond be set at $70,000.
About a half dozen people — some in black T-shirts emblazoned with police badges and the words “In Memory Of” — were in court Saturday. Some cried after Lopez’s bond was set.
Smith, who was unmarried, joined the Chicago Ridge Police Department in October 2010 as a part-time officer and became full-time in February. Smith had served as a Marine and was still in the Marine Corps Reserve. He grew up in Chicago Ridge and was a 2007 graduate of Richards High School in Oak Lawn, where he played football.
Dixon said that Lopez worked at a Hair Cuttery, but court records also list Lopez as a bartender for four years.
Lopez, of the 100 block of Willow Lane, is due back in court on Oct. 6 in Maywood.
Twitter @iamrichardray