Former cop gets 5-year sentence in crash that killed Antioch man
A former Chicago police officer was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for causing a 2021 crash that killed an Antioch man while driving drunk.
Steven Foulk, 71, of Island Lake, pleaded guilty in February to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol/causing a death.
Prosecutors said the fatal crash occurred about 2 a.m. July 15, 2021, after Foulk spent the previous day golfing and drinking, and then having more drinks at a bar in Johnsburg.
Authorities say Foulk was driving a Toyota Camry south on Chapel Hill Road in McHenry when it struck the back of a motorcycle that was stopped at the traffic light at Route 120.
The collision killed motorcyclist Kenneth Jackson, 37, of Antioch.
Testing showed Foulk’s blood-alcohol level was .159 — nearly twice the legal limit — hours after the crash, authorities said. Police also said Foulk was driving about 15 mph above the speed limit and did not brake until 0.4 seconds before impact.
Jackson’s mother, Karen Betancourt, tearfully read a statement in court, saying that when she arrived at the hospital, her son “was destroyed from head to toe.” He suffered multiple lacerations and fractures, his spine was severed and he was on life support.
“I could barely recognize my own son,” she said.
“(He) had his life taken from him … unfinished dreams, a to-do list in his phone. … I feel my son in my heart and I hear his voice. He says, ‘I want to be alive, I want my life back. I have so much to do,‘” she added.
Family members said they miss Jackson’s laugh and sense of humor, and the way he checked in on them and cared for them.
“Our hearts are broken,” Betancourt said. “The worst part of Kenny’s death is it was totally preventable. One person chose not to get a ride and chose to drive. (Foulk) caused the massacre of my son and destroyed my family.”
Foulk attorney Matthew Haiduk argued for probation, citing the former police officer’s multiple health problems, including cancer and diabetes, as well as, issues with memory and balance.
But in later handing down the 5-year prison term, McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt said that for a 71-year-old man, such health issues are not “extraordinary.”
In his statement to the court, Foulk apologized and said he had wanted many times to tell Jackson’s family he was sorry, but lawyers advised him not to do that.
“A day doesn’t go by that I don’t think about what happened,” he said. “Words cannot explain how sorry I am. If I could go back and change what happened I would do so. I hope you believe me when I say I’m sorry.”