Highwood police are awaiting test results from a crime lab to determine whether a Ford Bronco owned by a soldier at Ft. Sheridan was the vehicle that struck and killed a 43-year-old pedestrian over the weekend.
Highwood Police Chief George Smith said Sunday the truck’s owner was questioned about the accident and released, and no charges have been filed. Police are now awaiting laboratory results to determine if damage to the soldier’s truck is consistent with Saturday night’s accident, he said.
Antonio Arcos, 43, was just three blocks from his home at 7:51 p.m. Saturday when he was struck by a sports-utility truck, Smith said. Arcos was thrown 26 feet forward and suffered a broken neck and broken ribs, Smith said.
Arcos was pronounced dead at 8:52 p.m. at Highland Park Hospital, a spokeswoman said.
Witnesses told police that Arcos was struck by a dark-colored, late-model sports-utility vehicle. The truck was southbound in the 600 block of Sheridan Road when it struck Arcos and was traveling between 35 and 40 m.p.h., Smith said. The posted speed limit is 30 m.p.h.
Military authorities notified Highwood police that a black Ford Bronco matching the description of the truck that fled the accident was found at Ft. Sheridan. But the driver was dismissed as a suspect after he told police that the damage to the front of his truck was the result of an accident Friday in Northbrook, Smith said.
On Sunday, however, Smith said police gathered new information that further implicated that Bronco’s owner. Smith said he was not sure when the results from the crime lab would be available.
Arcos had just dropped off some beer at the home of his sister, Magdalena, and was walking home. He was reportedly walking south along Sheridan Road, about 2 feet from the curb, when he was struck, Smith said.
A native of Mexico, Arcos moved to the United States in the mid-1970s for better job opportunities, said Martin Gaytan, a family friend. Since 1988, Arcos has worked as a tile layer at Frank Zanotti Tile, where company officials described him as hard-working and dependable.
He lived with his wife, Carla, and their 4-year-old son, Luis Antonio, in a house on Ashland Avenue, Gaytan said. Arcos was an avid soccer player who participated in neighborhood pickup games in the summer, Gaytan said.
“It’s just so sad,” Gaytan said. “Antonio was really, really a nice guy. He was friendly with everybody.”
