Oct. 06--After a 33-year-old Chicago man fatally struck another man on the shoulder of the Eisenhower Expressway over the weekend, he drove off with the man's body still on his car before being pulled over and charged with drunken driving and reckless homicide, prosecutors said Monday.
Adrian Harris, of the 5400 block of West Van Buren Street, appeared Monday before Circuit Court Judge Laura Sullivan at the Leighton Criminal Court Building and was ordered held in lieu of $400,000 bail, prosecutors said.
Harris is charged in the death of Jess Rodriguez, 41, who prosecutors said had been driving westbound on the Eisenhower Expressway at 3:51 a.m. Saturday when he got into an argument with his girlfriend, who then got out of his vehicle near Western Avenue.
According to what prosecutors said in court, Rodriguez's girlfriend began walking on the left shoulder of the expressway, and Rodriguez pulled over to the right shoulder and got out of his car. Rodriguez then tried to walk across the lanes of traffic on foot to reach his girlfriend, prosecutors said.
According to a witness who was in a van that was driving westbound, vehicles began slowing down as they spotted Rodriguez attempting to walk across the expressway, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Harris was driving his vehicle behind the van when the witness saw Harris speed up his car, drive around the van and strike Rodriguez.
Harris did not slow down or hit his brakes until he struck Rodriguez, prosecutors said.
Rodriguez's body landed on the rear window of Harris' car. Harris briefly stopped his car on the left shoulder before continuing to drive westbound with Rodriguez's body still on the rear window, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said a Cook County sheriff's police investigator saw Harris driving with Rodriguez's body on his car. The officer flashed his lights at Harris to direct him to get off the expressway, and the officer then pulled Harris over.
According to prosecutors, Harris was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.169 percent, more than twice the legal limit.
Rodriguez was pronounced dead of his injuries.
According to prosecutors, Harris has six felony convictions and is on parole after being sentenced to one year in state prison in 2014 after being convicted of drunken driving and driving with a revoked license. Harris does not have a valid driver's license and also has a misdemeanor drunken driving conviction.
