Des Plaines boy killed riding bike

A 10-year-old Des Plaines boy was killed by an automobile Wednesday night near his home, Cook County Medical Examiner officials said Thursday morning.

Jimmy Alanis, 10, of the 7500 block of Elmhurst Road, was hit by a car at about 4:40 p.m. while riding his bike, according to the Cook County sheriff's police.

He was taken from the scene to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, where he was pronounced dead at about 7:50 p.m., medical examiner officials said.

Alanis was crossing the four-lane Elmhurst Road westbound when he was hit, said Steve Patterson, spokesman for the police.

He said the 5th grader made it across the northbound lanes, but a semi-truck and a van were driving in the southbound lanes. The truck driver hit his brakes and turned his wheels toward the median when he saw Alanis coming, but the van driver was unable to see what was going on because he was blocked by the truck, Patterson said.

"Suddenly a 10-year-old boy is in front of the van driver, and the van driver has zero time to stop," Patterson said.

He said both drivers got out of their cars to call police, and Alanis was taken to the hospital. Doctors hoped to transport him by helicopter to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, but his injuries were too severe. He died of multiple injuries caused by the accident, according to the autopsy.

Patterson said police are still investigating the accident, but it appears that the 65-year-old van driver, who is also from Des Plaines, was not at fault.

"We have no reason to believe this was anything other than a horrible accident," he said.

Patterson said the speed limit on the road is 45 mph, and all those involved were not going any faster than that.

Police did not know if Alanis' relatives were near the scene when the accident happened, but the family lives in the trailer homes near where Alanis was trying to cross the street.

"We didn't know where he was coming from or going," Patterson said.

Alanis was a 5th grade student at Salt Creek Elementary School in Elk Grove Village.

Elk Grove Township Elementary District 59 Superintendent Daniel Schweers said Alanis was very popular with both students and teachers.

"He was just a very happy young man," he said. "He was well known to the staff and the teachers and a delight to be around."

He said counselors were on hand to talk to students who were dealing with the loss.

"It's just hard to wrap your arms around this kind of tragedy," Schweers said. "When it's one of their classmates, it's very jarring."