Hoffman Estates man faces charges in fatal crash

The driver involved in last week's early morning car crash that claimed the life of former Conant High School football player Christopher Vega has been charged with aggravated DUI and reckless homicide.

A Cook County Circuit Court judge set bond at $200,000 earlier this week for 21-year-old Jay Yi who police say was driving a 1999 Toyota Camry westbound on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway when the crash occurred about 4:30 a.m. Nov. 6. Yi, of the 600 block of Alhambra Lane in Hoffman Estates, failed to navigate the Arlington Heights Road exit, which caused the car to travel into a ditch, where it struck a metal drainage grate and rolled over, police said.

Vega was a passenger in the car. Both men were taken to area hospitals, where Vega succumbed to his injuries about an hour after the accident, an Illinois State Police spokesman said. Neither man was wearing a seat belt.

Toxicology reports are pending and the investigation continues, the spokesman said. A high school friend described Vega as outgoing and said the 20-year-old Hoffman Estates resident hoped to play football for Harper College.

If convicted, Yi could face up to 14 years in prison, said a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney. He is scheduled to appear in a Rolling Meadows courtroom on Dec. 2.