A 31-year-old from the city’s East Side is being held on $50,000 bond after a passenger in his vehicle was killed in a crash April 14.
Prosecutors said in court Sunday that Daniel Mares was behind the wheel of a red truck that evening when police saw him driving through a red light at the intersection of Torrence Avenue and 100th Street. According to police, witnesses and surveillance video, Mares was driving in the wrong lane and going so fast that his car went airborne after crossing railroad tracks.
Officers said that upon noticing his mistake, Mares tried to correct but oversteered, driving his vehicle into a business, where it wedged between a fence and a tree. Damon Pallanti, 36, a passenger in the vehicle, was pronounced dead on the scene.
An autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner’s office determined his cause of death was cervical injuries caused by a major vehicle collision. An empty vodka bottle was observed behind the driver’s seat and recovered when the car was processed by police, prosecutors said. Mares, who prosecutors said does not have a valid driver’s license, was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI.
After the crash, Mares was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center for treatment, and tests showed his blood alcohol content at 0.197, according to prosecutors. Mares suffered rib and left arm fractures, refused treatment, and left the hospital against medical advice before the blood alcohol results came back.
During a bail hearing broadcast live on YouTube on Sunday, Mares tried to talk over court officials about his reasons for leaving the hospital early.
After being taken into custody on July 11, Mares told investigators he didn’t remember being involved in an accident. Mares is scheduled to return to court Monday.