Friends, family remember Stevenson grad killed in crash

Danny Cotini once told a friend he believed his purpose in life was to help others be happy.

"He always cared for others and tried to always make us feel good when we were down," said Jadira Lopez, who lived on the same floor as Cotini in the fall 2006 semester he attended Northern Illinois University.

"I was going through some tough times that first semester and whenever I was feeling down, he would sit with me until he made me feel better or laugh."

Cotini's friends said his humor, his love of music and his uncanny ability to recite movie quotes from memory made them happy.

But they say it is tragic that what made Cotini so happy - his beloved Honda Prelude - is what led to his young death.

"He loved everything about cars," said Nikki Grandt, 22, of Wheeling. "The only car he owned was the Prelude he was driving when he crashed. He was so proud of it."

Cotini, 20, a 2006 graduate of Stevenson High School, died Wednesday afternoon while street racing on Aptakisic Road in Buffalo Grove, police said. His car hit a utility pole and burst into flames.

An autopsy on Thursday revealed that Cotini died from multiple traumas, particularly to the chest and head, said Lake County Coroner Richard Keller.

Keller said Cotini died instantly from the impact of the crash and that he was already dead when the fire erupted.

George Rubin, 21, of Wheeling was driving on Aptakisic in front of the racing cars.

He estimated Cotini and another driver were coming up behind him at 75 or 80 mph. The speed limit on that part of Aptakisic is 45 mph, according to Buffalo Grove police.

Rubin said the other driver was in the right lane and Cotini was in the left lane, but when Cotini gained on Rubin, Cotini switched to the right lane and lost control.

"With that impact that I saw, I didn't think anyone could survive that (crash)," Rubin said. "It was just awful and devastating."

The other driver, Marco L. Rosero, 20, of Mount Prospect, was charged with one count of drag racing and speeding, but could face additional charges pending an investigation. He is due in court Aug. 6.

But Rubin - who did not know Cotini but discovered later they had mutual friends - said in one way the crash showed the best side of humanity: Witnesses rushed to the smashed Prelude in an attempt to pull Cotini out of the car.

"The fire was just so intense, everything around the car was on fire," Rubin said.

"People put their lives on the line to try to get him out of there; that car was going to explode any second, but people were getting in there and covering their faces with shirts."

Rubin said a nearby homeowner even tried to put out the fire with a garden hose, but the fire was too overbearing.

"If Danny knew that people like that were out there, he'd very greatly appreciate it," Rubin said. Police say no witnesses were injured.

Buffalo Grove Police Sgt. Scott Kristiansen said Rosero stopped a quarter-mile away from the crash scene, at Weiland and Aptakisic, and was already standing outside his car when police approached.

"There was no effort on his part to get away," Kristiansen said. "He didn't try to hide from us."

Cotini's mother, Lisa Cotini, said the crash happened between their house and her son's job at a Jamba Juice in Lincolnshire. He was not scheduled to work Wednesday but he might have been driving to the store "just to say hi," she said.

"He was a wonderful, sweet and sensitive son and friend," she said. "We're going to miss him a lot."

Kelly Lasher, 20, of Buffalo Grove, who met Danny when they worked at a pet store in high school, said this tragedy might increase awareness of the dangers of speeding.

"Us being 20 years old, we look at ourselves as being untouchable, but the truth is we're not untouchable," Lasher said. "For people who knew Danny, (the crash) is going to affect them; it's going to slow them down and they're going to think about this."

But Danny's friends agree that the memory of his sense of humor will keep him alive.

"He was absolutely the clown," Lasher said. "Laughter was his life."