Man gets 13 years for DUI crash that killed 9- year- old
Anthony S. Potochney, of Aurora, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for driving under the influence when he caused a 2016 crash that left a 9- year- old girl dead and two other kids injured in west suburban Aurora.
About 9: 10 p. m. Oct. 7, Potochney was driving south on Broadway Avenue near Pierce Street in downtown Aurora when his vehicle drifted into the northbound lanes, prosecutors said.
The driver of a minivan in the northbound lanes tried to avoid Potochney’s vehicle by making a sharp turn to the left, but the vehicle struck the minivan on its passenger side, the state’s attorney’s office said. The minivan then crashed into a building.
Potochney was driving at least 75 mph in a 35 mph zone at the time of the crash, police said.
A passenger in the minivan, 9- year- old Katie Jonak of Aurora, was killed.
Potochney ran away after the crash, but was later taken into custody.
He admitted to drinking 6 Coors Lights, 4 Captain Morgans and smoking marijuana the evening of the crash, police said.
Sun- Times Wire
Man charged with robbing disabled man
Daryll Payne, 23, of the South Shore neighborhood, was charged with robbing a 54- yearold disabled man earlier this year as he got off a CTA train at a stop on the Near West Side.
Payne grabbed the man’s cellphone from the armrest of his wheelchair as he was getting off the train at 2: 41 p. m. Jan. 24 at the Illinois Medical District stop, police said. He then ran off.
Payne was taken into custody after being identified through Ventra card records and CTA surveillance footage, police said.
Tom Schuba
$ 1M bail for man charged in carjacking
Darnell Anderson, 26, of the West Side Austin neighborhood, is being held on $ 1 million bail in connection with the carjacking of a 68- year- old woman Wednesday at Oakbrook Center mall in west suburban Oak Brook.
The woman was sitting in her Honda Civic at 9: 36 a. m. in the mall parking garage before going into work when a white Toyota Camry pulled up behind her, according to Oak Brook police. The Toyota had been reported stolen from Maywood.
One person then got out of the Toyota, opened the driver’s side door of the Honda, brandished a gun and ordered the woman to get out, according to police and prosecutors.
The woman got out of the car and grabbed her purse before running away, police said. The suspect got into the vehicle, but then ran after the woman to take her purse.
One suspect then drove off in the Honda while a second drove away in the Toyota, authorities said. Luke Wilusz
Man shot, critically wounded in Woodlawn
A 36- year- old man was shot and critically wounded in the South Side Woodlawn neighborhood. The man was walking about 3: 30 a. m. in the 6600 block of South Drexel when someone fired shots, striking him multiple times, according to Chicago Police.
Sun- Times Wire
Man charged with DUI in Englewood crash that injured cop
A driver was charged with drunk driving in a crash that left him and a Chicago Police officer injured early Saturday in the South Side Englewood neighborhood.
Officers were conducting a traffic stop at 1: 29 a. m. in the 300 block of West 71st Street when a Dodge Durango struck the rear of their squad car, pinning one of them between the two vehicles, according to Chicago Police.
The officer suffered a minor leg injury. He has since been released from a hospital.
The 36- year- old man driving the Durango was taken to a hospital, where his condition was stabilized, police said.