Driver in fatal hit-and-run had no license because of prior DUI convictions

The Bishop Ford Expressway near 111th Street where a driver allegedly fell sleep at the wheel and crashed into another motorist. | Google Maps

The driver in a fatal hit-and-run crash Friday on the Bishop Ford Expressway told police he had been drinking since a Bears tailgate hours before he collided with a motorcyclist, prosecutors said Monday.

Omarr Hill got behind the wheel of his wife’s Buick LaCrosse early Friday as he left a strip club, despite his driver’s license being suspended after a 2016 conviction for driving under the influence, Assistant State’s Attorney Kim Pressling told Judge Mary Marubio during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.

Hill started drinking during a Bears tailgate ahead of the team’s victory Thursday night over the Cowboys at Soldier Field, Pressling said, and continued drinking at the stadium, then at a strip club after the game. Hill told police he nodded off as he drove north on the Bishop Ford Expressway near 111th Street about 2 a.m.

Also headed north was Eric Smith, who was trailing his wife’s car on his motorcycle as they both drove about 25 mph with their emergency flashers on because Smith’s bike was running low on gas.

Smith’s wife lost sight of her husband, but told police she saw Hill’s SUV scraping along the highway on three wheels, trailing sparks. Smith’s wife backed up on the expressway and found Smith, 42, laying in a ditch along the embankment. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hill, after using his truck’s OnStar system and calling his wife, climbed out of his car near 111th Street and was found by state police walking along the expressway, Pressling said. Hill smelled of alcohol and flunked several field sobriety tests.

A Breathalyzer test administered by troopers registered a .170 blood-alcohol level, and a subsequent test at a hospital marked .157, both well over the legal limit of .08, Pressling said. Blood and urine tests still are pending. Hill also was convicted of DUI in 2014, Pressling said.

Omarr Hill

Marubio on Monday set bail at $50,000, but ordered Hill to wear a monitoring device that will record if he consumes any alcohol and barred him from driving. Marubio warned Hill, a Walmart manager, that any consumption of alcohol would prompt her to revoke his bond.

Hill’s lawyer, Michael Clancy, told the judge Hill’s family would be able to post bond.