A Bridgeview man was sentenced Monday to a total of 16 years in prison for causing a 2023 Palos Hills car crash
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that killed a father of five.Daniel Swan, 35, of Bridgeview, pleaded guilty Friday to aggravated driving under the influence and failing to report an accident resulting in death.
Cook County Judge Steven Jay Rosenblum sentenced Swan to three years incarceration for the first charge and 13 years for the second, to be served consecutively, in accordance with a plea agreement reached between prosecutors and Swan’s lawyers.
The crash in early August 2023 on Southwest Highway killed 40-year-old Burley Patterson and injured three others, including Patterson’s wife, Christina.
At Monday’s sentencing hearing in Bridgeview, Christina Patterson said the crash left her permanently disabled.
“I once was able to run, walk with no issues, and now I struggle every day,” Patterson said. “I’m on medication for the rest of my life. Can’t hold anything in my dominant right hand that weighs more than half a pound, because there’s no strength in that hand.”
Burley Patterson was “on his way to do wonderful things” as a father and business owner when he died, his wife said. On the night of the crash, they’d left their children at home to go out for a date night, she said.
“He was so badly burned that we couldn’t even have an open-casket funeral,” Patterson said.
Patterson said she and her late husband had both formerly struggled with addiction, and accused Swan of not taking responsibility for his actions.
“You can’t blame the addiction. We chose to get clean and sober, for many, many years now, and to stop destroying the life of those around us. You made a choice that day to drive when you were impaired,” Patterson said. “These few years that you were given is a joke.”
Swan apologized to the family and said he is in a 12-step recovery program.
“I can’t imagine how you feel sitting there talking to me,” Swan said to Christina Patterson and other family members present in the courtroom. “I will feel guilty for this for the rest of my life.”
Rosenblum said crimes like Swan’s are difficult to sentence because, although Swan did not intend to hurt anyone when he made the decision to drink and drive, the harm done to the Patterson family can never be repaired.
“Nothing I say or do today is going to give you any type of closure,” Rosenblum told the Patterson family. “Nothing can give back what the crime has taken from you.”
Swan will receive credit for about three years of time served. He will need to serve at least 85% of the three-year term and 50% of the 13-year term before he is eligible for release, Rosenblum said.
“Nobody’s looking to get in a car crash and injure themselves or other people,” Rosenblum said. “I realize that Mr. Swan did not go out that evening to try and hurt Mr. Patterson. But the amount of damage that you caused that night was extensive, and it destroyed a family.”