Deer Park teen facing felony charges in fatal 2025 Arlington Heights crash

A 19-year-old from Deer Park is facing felony charges related to a fatal 2025 crash in Arlington Heights.

Arlington Heights police announced the charges against Eric Dobrolinski following an 18-month investigation into the Jan. 25, 2025, crash in the intersection of Lake-Cook Road and Bloomington Avenue that killed 69-year-old Rafael G. Mercado of Des Plaines.

Dobrolinski is charged with reckless homicide with a vehicle as well as a litany of misdemeanor driving offenses. He was ordered jailed pretrial at a hearing Wednesday at the Cook County courthouse in Rolling Meadows.

Police said Dobrolinski operated the vehicle in “a manner demonstrating a willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others” in a news release.

Police said Dobrolinski was driving a 2020 BMW M340i at nearly twice the posted 45 mph speed limit eastbound on Lake-Cook Road when he collided with Mercado’s 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee that was turning from northbound Bloomington Avenue onto westbound Lake-Cook Road.

Mercado was transported to Advocate Lutheran General Medical Center in Park Ridge where he died from injuries suffered in the crash.

Dobrolinski and two others in the BMW were evaluated by paramedics and refused further care. They were picked up by family and taken for medical evaluation, according to police.

Police said the crash investigation “required numerous legal processes and countless hours of work.”

“Investigators completed a comprehensive crash reconstruction that included vehicle data downloads, video analysis, witness interviews, forensic evidence review and other investigative techniques to accurately determine the circumstances surrounding the collision and support criminal prosecution,” according to the release.

Dobrolinski’s next court date is scheduled for Aug. 14.