Round Lake Beach man denies causing fatal crash
A Round Lake Beach man charged with being drunk when he caused a crash that killed a motorcyclist pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lake County circuit court.
Vicente Torres-Vasquez, 48, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of aggravated DUI and reckless homicide.
Assistant State's Attorney Scott Hoffert said Torres-Vasquez, of the 1300 block of Belvidere Road, was behind the wheel of a Ford Explorer around 5 p.m. on July 24. Torres-Vasquez pulled out of a parking lot on Route 176 near Anderson Road in Wauconda without yielding to traffic, Hoffert said.
His vehicle was struck by a motorcycle traveling east on Route 176 and being driven by Gregory Homola, 55, of Lake Geneva, Wis. Homola died at Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington a short time after the crash, Hoffert said.
Torres-Vasquez's vehicle also struck a car after Homola's motorcycle, Hoffert said, and two people in that car suffered minor injuries.
Torres-Vasquez had a blood-alcohol level of 0.28 percent at the time of the crash, Hoffert said, more than three times the legal threshold of .08 percent.
He is held on $2 million bond in the Lake County jail.