Police: Drunken driver was going 75 in 30 mph zone in Elgin crash that killed two
A Glendale Heights man charged in a March 20 DUI crash in Elgin that killed two people was going more than twice the speed limit and had a blood-alcohol concentration more than three times the legal threshold, according to court records.
Adrian Velasco, 21, of the 500 block of Gregory Avenue, is charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI in the deaths of Norieli Villagomez, 26, and Omar Zavala, 30, both of Elgin.
Velasco, who made his first court appearance Thursday in Kane County, was going 75 mph in a 30 mph zone when he crashed near Summit Street and Dundee Avenue, according to a police affidavit. The affidavit was used to secure a search warrant for Velasco's hospital records after the crash and for items, such as his phone, in his 2012 black Honda Accord.
A blood draw at Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin also showed his blood-alcohol concentration to be .271, more than three times the legal threshold of .08, according to the affidavit.
Velasco is being held at the Kane County jail on $500,000 bail, meaning he must post $50,000 to be released while the charges are pending. Assistant Public Defender Ron Dolak will argue on April 10 to Judge John Barsanti to have Velasco's bail reduced.
According to the affidavit, an Elgin police "real time information camera" recorded the crash about 1:41 a.m. March 20 as Velasco headed west on Summit and struck a 2018 Nissan Altima. Zavala was pronounced dead at the scene; Villagomez died a short time later, according to the affidavit. Velasco's passenger sustained a broken clavicle in the crash, which overturned the 2012 Honda. A witness helped Velasco out of the overturned car, unbuckling his seat belt to get him loose, the affidavit read.
An officer wrote that Velasco was arrested on a DUI charge on the ambulance ride to the hospital and he admitted he had "been drinking while driving" that night but had no memory of the crash, the affidavit read. A crash Reconstructionist did a time/distance analysis of the crash and estimated Velasco was traveling at 75 mph.
Velasco faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted of the most severe charges and must serve 85 percent of any prison term instead of the customary 50 percent for many crimes.