Des Plaines police release sketch of driver
Des Plaines police released a composite sketch Friday of the semi-tractor driver thought to be involved in the death of Choice Taylor, the 17-year-old struck and killed Nov. 5 near Algonquin Road and Third Avenue.
Police Chief Jim Prandini said four witnesses contributed “bits and pieces” to the composite and the two witnesses with the best look at the driver said the composite is a “pretty good likeness.”
Police continued for the seventh straight evening to stop traffic on Algonquin Road, handing out fliers to drivers, in case they saw something a week ago that would help police find the truck driver.
Taylor, a Maine West High School senior, was killed between 6 and 6:30 p.m. Nov. 5, as he tried to cross Algonquin Road about 50 feet east of Third Avenue. Witnesses said he somehow fell, and was rolled over by the truck, which was heading west on Algonquin.
Witnesses said the truck was northbound on Lee Street, and turned west onto Algonquin before it hit the teen. About a half-block past the accident site the driver stopped and got out to check his rig for damage, but finding none, he got back into the cab and drove off.
Prandini said Friday none of the witnesses knew if the truck turned on Wolf Road or continued west on Algonquin.
As police were flagging drivers Friday night, about a mile north on Lee Street hundreds of people were in line outside the Good News Christian Center for Choice Taylor's wake.
Prandini said he and other officers stopped in at the wake and spoke briefly to Choice's mother, Loreene Taylor. He marveled once again at the family's toughness in the face of such tragedy and was impressed at the size of the crowd at the wake.
“I saw a lot of (Maine West) staff members there,” he said, adding that the center was filled with high school students.
Prandini said police have gotten more than 100 leads from people who have seen truck cabs that resemble the description police have issued dark red or maroon, an over the road type, a newer model and more aerodynamic, with a sleeper cab behind the driver's compartment.
The driver is described as a white male, between 5-8 and 6 feet tall, with a “wiry” or thin build, a goatee and short brown or black hair.
Despite a week's worth of heavy publicity, the chief said it's still very possible the driver does not know he killed Choice Taylor, or that police are looking for him.
The driver could have hooked up a trailer and is taking it across the country, he said.
The funeral for Choice Taylor will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, at Good News Christian Center, 815 Lee St., Des Plaines.
He will be buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Hillside.