Jail time for driver who caused car crash that killed Hanover Park teen
The former Glendale Heights man responsible for the December 2011 collision near Galena that claimed the life of a Hanover Park teenager was sentenced Thursday to 180 days in jail and 18 months probation by a Stephenson County judge.
Acquitted of the more serious reckless driving charge in the death of 19-year-old Michael Coleman, Arsalan Uddin was convicted of the petty offense of speeding and the misdemeanor of operating an uninsured vehicle involved in an accident causing great bodily harm or death. He must complete the entire sentence before he is eligible for release, said Stephenson County assistant state's attorney Joseph Lentz.
Lentz said neither drugs nor alcohol contributed to the accident, which occurred just after 8 a.m. Dec. 19, 2011, as Coleman, a 2010 Bartlett High School graduate, and Justin Blazek, of Bartlett, drove west on Route 20 for a day of snowboarding at the Chestnut Mountain Resort near Galena.
Uddin, who was traveling to his job in Iowa, was passing Coleman when he noticed a semitrailer approaching. Speeding up to pass, he hit black ice, lost control and struck a car driven by a Stockton, Ill., woman. She lost control of her vehicle, which struck Coleman's car, killing him instantly and seriously injuring Blazek. The woman was also injured, authorities said.
"We're very surprised and very happy with the sentence," said Michael's father, Patrick Coleman.
Uddin's attorney Frank Spotaro declined to comment.
In his victim impact statement, Coleman described his son - a four-year member of his high school's swim and football teams - as a good man who lived by the motto "give and forgive."
"At the young age of 19, my son was already the man I hoped he would be and a better man than I will ever be," wrote Patrick Coleman in his statement.
Blazek previously described Michael as a well-liked, "team first kind of guy" who put everyone ahead of himself.
In comments directed at Uddin, Patrick Coleman asked him to remember Michael, a longtime park district lifeguard and College of DuPage student who hoped to become a park district aquatics director.
"I know my son has forgiven you. That's the kind of person he was," Coleman said to Uddin, who Coleman said expressed remorse for the accident.