$750,000 cash bond for Des Plaines man charged in crash that killed three
The Des Plaines man charged in a Mount Prospect crash that killed a Des Plaines couple and their 31-year-old son last month was ordered held on a $750,000 cash bond, meaning he most post the entire amount to be released from custody.
Garrett Kowalski, 25, who prosecutors say has an "extensive traffic history," is charged with aggravated DUI causing death, reckless homicide and possession of a controlled substance. If convicted of the most serious charge, he faces six to 28 years in prison.
Supported by crutches, Kowalski appeared via Zoom from the lockup at the Rolling Meadows Third Municipal District courthouse Friday afternoon.
Prosecutors said Kowalski's gold Ford Escape was traveling 104 to 108 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone when it struck the Honda Accord driven by Francisco Flores Rodriguez, 58, who was killed along with his wife, Georgina Perez Gomez, 59, and their son, Francisco Javier Flores Perez, known to family and friends as Pancho.
The family was turning onto Rand Road from a big-box store parking lot about 7:43 a.m. March 7 when Kowalski's SUV T-boned the family's car after running two red lights, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Nicole Murphy said.
Video surveillance from area businesses captured Kowalski speeding, and witnesses reported the car "engine screaming as he accelerated," Murphy said. The vehicle's crash data recorder indicated that "no attempt was made to brake," she said.
Kowalski's vehicle went airborne and came to rest on its roof, she said, adding that police said he was not wearing a seat belt. He underwent surgery at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
Meanwhile, Des Plaines police officers responding to a well-being request arrived at Kowalski's apartment to find the door open, Murphy said. Police found his ID along with lines of ketamine totaling less than one gram, she said.
Kowalski's blood tested positive for ketamine.
He is on conditional discharge for a 2020 disorderly conduct misdemeanor related to his threatening ComEd employees, Murphy said. He has misdemeanor battery convictions from 2016 related to striking a man who was walking his dog and related to a struggle over a bottle of alcohol where a female acquaintance fell, striking her head, Murphy said.
Kowalski also has a 2013 misdemeanor battery conviction for punching a man, she said.
Traffic violations include disregarding a traffic control device and a stop sign and several speeding tickets in 2018 and 2019.
"It's the people's position that the defendant poses a real public safety risk," Murphy said.
Kowalski next appears in court on April 29.