Web Extra!
A Chicago man accused last year of being drunk behind the wheel of a car and intentionally running down a bicyclist in Brookfield pleaded guilty to two felony charges Tuesday as part of a deal with county prosecutors.
Armando Reza, 18, pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated driving under the influence in front of Judge Carol Kipperman at the Maybrook courthouse. She sentenced Reza to time he already served in Cook County Jail and two years’ probation, according to a spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
A second man involved in the case, 20-year-old Erik Fabian, of Chicago, will appear in court on Monday. He may enter a guilty plea at that time, though the state’s attorney’s spokeswoman would not confirm that.
Brookfield police charged that on May 31, 2009, Reza and Fabian were driving through the village in a white 2005 Monte Carlo just before 7 a.m. A 51-year-old Oak Park man told police he was on his bicycle, riding westbound in the 9200 block of Washington Avenue when he was struck from behind by the Monte Carlo.
The victim was thrown from his bike and skidded 10 feet in the street, receiving a nasty case of road rash. Before he was taken to Loyola University Medical Center, the man was able to give police a partial license plate number.
About 15 minutes later, Brookfield police received a call that another man had been struck by a white vehicle in the vicinity of 31st Street and Maple Avenue. The cyclist, a 33-year-old Brookfield man who was not seriously injured, was able to call police and described Fabian, who was in the passenger seat.
A LaGrange Park police officer stopped the vehicle at a gas station at 31st Street and LaGrange Road. Reza was identified as the driver. Police later determined that Reza’s blood-alcohol level was .158, or twice the legal limit.
Police also alleged that Fabian was driving the car when it struck the Oak Park man. He and Reza then switched seats so Reza could hit another cyclist, according to police.
