March 02--A Skokie man was charged with drunken driving after he ran into and seriously injured a 78-year-old man Saturday on Chicago's Northwest Side, authorities said.
A judge set bail at $75,000 Sunday for Simon Galan, 54, of the 5100 block of Estes Avenue, who is charged with aggravated DUI. Galan, who appeared for a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, was additionally cited with driving without insurance, hitting a pedestrian in the roadway, failing to render aid and transporting alcohol, officials said.
Galan was behind the wheel of a white van about 6 p.m. Saturday in the 4000 block of North Cicero Avenue when he ran into the man, causing the victim to suffer facial injuries and skin tears, according to a Cook County prosecutor.
The elderly man was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in serious condition, according to a police report.
When police caught up with Galan about a block from the crash, he was standing outside the van and he told them he "thought he hit a pedestrian's hand,'' according to the report.
He had glassy, bloodshot eyes and the officers could smell alcohol on his breath, the report said. When Galan was asked if he had been drinking, he "freely stated that he had been drinking earlier, in the morning, with his wife,'' the report said.
Officers recovered a bottle filled with clear liquor suspected to be vodka.
Galan, who has two prior DUI arrests but no convictions, works as a restorer and lives in Skokie with his family, according to his attorney and the police report.
