Lake Zurich 13-year-old struck by van dies

Neighbors of Kristina Rodriguez hold onto memories of the young girl walking to school holding her violin case and of times when she played with her sister in the snow.

School friends and neighbors on Hollycourt Terrace, a close-knit, family oriented street in Lake Zurich, learned Saturday that Rodriguez, a seventh-grader at Middle School North, died of injuries suffered in an accident on Rand Road on New Year's Eve.

Rodriguez died early Saturday morning at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Kristina, 13, and a 12-year-old friend were crossing Rand Road at Pheasant Ridge near Walmart when one of the girls dropped her cell phone, police say.

When Kristina ran into the busy roadway to retrieve the phone, she was hit by the driver of a 2006 Dodge van.

There is a traffic signal and crosswalk at the intersection, but it is not well lit at night and not heavily traveled by pedestrians.

"This is every mother's most horrible nightmare. It's a fear," said Gloria Dittmann, a longtime neighbor of the Rodriguez family. "Kristina was such a sweet child," said Dittmann, who used to run a day care facility in her home.

The choked-up neighbor recalls that Kristina was a girl who cared deeply for others. She would help Dittmann by walking one of the young children she cared for to Seth Paine Elementary School, about two blocks from the neighborhood.

The accident, which took place just days before school goes back into session following winter break, is tough for young friends to understand.

"To see someone so young as us die is heartbreaking and she did not deserve to die such a tragic death," Kristina's friend Chelsie Roth said in an e-mail.

She added that Kristina was always caring and nice to others and seemed to always try to help people with their problems.

Other friends said Kristina was always smiling. Isabelle Armbruster, 12, has been good friends with Kristina for several years. "Whenever someone was sad, she would try to cheer them up," Armbruster said. Kind is the word that best described her friend. She said it would be difficult to go to school Monday without Kristina.

Additional counselors will be on hand Monday morning for students and staff, school officials said. Middle School North Principal Mark Richter knew Kristina to be a kind and soft-spoken student who got along well with others. "Whenever I saw and said hello to Kristina, she typically had a smile on her face, and she really seemed to enjoy school," Richter said.

Word of the accident spread quickly through Lake Zurich. Friends set up an R.I.P. Facebook page in which nearly more than 800 friends joined by Saturday evening, leaving heartfelt messages and prayers.

"We're saying a lot of prayers for the family right now," Dittmann said.

Police continue to investigate the accident, but were releasing no details over the weekend. Lake County's Major Crash Assistance Team has been called in to assist.

The driver of the van, a 60-year-old Barrington man, was fully cooperative with police. No citations have been issued and police said alcohol does not appear to be a factor.

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<li><a href="/story/?id=347974">Alcohol not a factor in crash that hurt 13-year-old Lake Zurich girl <span class="date">[01/01/10]</span></a></li>

<li><a href="/story/?id=347958">Juvenile seriously hurt in Lake Zurich crash <span class="date">[12/31/09]</span></a></li>

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