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Charges filed against father, truck driver in crash that killed 10-year-old Island Lake boy

An Island Lake man was driving under the influence of marijuana when he was involved in an auto accident that killed his 10-year-old son late last year, prosecutors said Thursday.

Scott Shirey, 49, was one of two drivers arrested and charged Thursday in the Dec. 12 crash near Lake Zurich that killed 10-year-old Griffin Shirey and injured the boy's twin brother, Nicholas.

Laboratory tests indicated Shirey had enough marijuana in his system to render him under the influence, said Kenneth LaRue, chief of the Lake County state's attorney's traffic division.

Shirey, of the 3300 block of Concordia Drive, was charged with four counts of aggravated driving under the influence of drugs and two counts of reckless homicide, the Lake County state's attorney's office said.

Shirey also was charged with one felony count of endangering the life and safety of a child that resulted in death, and a misdemeanor count of the same charge because Nicholas Shirey was injured.

The charges followed the lab tests, interviews with witnesses and an accident reconstruction, LaRue said.

β€œIt is a tragedy, but the charges ... are based upon the facts of the case,” LaRue said.

Also charged was Matthew Loiacano, 29, who was driving the Ford Super Duty pickup truck that collided with the Shirey's Lincoln sedan at Route 12 and Old McHenry Road. The truck was carrying roofing materials.

Loiacano, of Kansasville, Wis., was charged with five counts of reckless homicide, authorities said.

According to the arrest warrant, Loiacano was unfamiliar with the operation of the manual transmission pickup truck and drove through a red light at the intersection.

Loiacano is also accused of reaching for a stick of gum, and not braking moments before the truck slammed into the side of Shirey's car, the warrant reads.

The car was hit while turning left from southbound Route 12 onto Old McHenry Road. The boys were riding in the back seat of the car when it was struck.

The truck hit two other vehicles waiting at the traffic light, officials said in December. No one in those vehicles was injured.

Griffin, Nicholas and Scott Shirey were taken to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. Griffin was pronounced dead shortly after.

Nicholas was flown by emergency helicopter to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and survived.

Loiacano was taken to Centegra Hospital β€” McHenry after the crash. He was released the same night and immediately questioned by police.

Bond for Loiacano was set by Associate Judge Raymond Collins at $500,000 on Thursday, LaRue said. Collins set Shirey's bond at $250,000 in a separate hearing.

Both were taken to Lake County jail after the hearings.

The men are next scheduled to appear in court March 6.

1 twin killed, 1 in hospital Driver blows red light near Lake Zurich

Elementary school grapples with Island Lake twin's death in crash

No charges yet in fatal Route 12 accident near Lake Zurich

Island Lake twin remains in critical condition

Benefit for accident victims:

Griffin Shirey funeral

Matthew Loiacano
Scott Pennington Shirey
  The Lincoln sedan after it was struck by a pickup truck in a horrific Route 12 crash in December that killed a 10-year-old Island Lake boy. Gilbert R. Boucher II/gboucher@dailyherald.com, 20
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