Calif. tragedy hits home near Elgin

A few years ago, I covered the trial of a teen accused of first-degree murder after he rammed his car into an old building in East Dundee.

Brian Poliarny survived the Jan. 12, 2007 crash but it killed his passenger, Roman Pokorny, a 16-year-old junior at Dundee-Crown High School and injured another girl.

Poliarny was acquitted of the murder charge in August 2007, but pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI and was sentenced to probation.

Prosecutors and witnesses argued at trial that Poliarny was despondent, declared he had nothing to live for and tried to commit suicide by crashing into the old Haeger Pottery Store building.

Poliarny repeatedly violated his probation and eventually was resentenced to four years in prison.

The entire case was a horrible tragedy that destroyed one life and cut another short.

I immediately thought of this case when I heard about the death of a former Elgin School District U-46 student and former Streamwood woman, who overcame deafness to earn an associate degree and become a teacher's aide.

Glynna Rose Folkens, 45, tragically was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She died March 12 after an SUV careened through a block wall and crashed into her San Bernadino, Calif., home, pinning her against a stove.

"She was a very kind and loving girl," recalled Folkens' former teacher, Joan Richardson. "She's going to be very, very, very missed by people who knew her."

According to an Associated Press report, California Highway Patrol officials say there were no skid marks outside the house and witnesses say the 18-year-old driver, Christopher Seruga, did not try to stop.

He was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and authorities believe he was trying to commit suicide, according to the AP report.

Folkens' family moved to California decades ago, but she formed a lasting friendship with Richardson.

Richardson, a retired Elgin Area U-46 teacher who now lives in South Elgin, first taught Folkens during a summer camp at Highland School in the summer of 1969.

Folkens was 4 and lost her hearing as a result of rubella.

Richardson, who is fluent in sign language, also taught Folkens through 1972 at Century Oaks School in Elgin.

With talking on the phone rendered impractical, the two would write letters and Folkens and her family, who were members of Nazarene Church of Elgin, would visit the Elgin area every summer.

"Then along came this wonderful thing called the Internet, which she took to like a fish to water," Richardson said.

Richardson said Folkens was a good student and as an adult, she enjoyed traveling, canning and gardening.

"She was such a pure-hearted individual. She was so kind," Richardson said.