A Hammond man accused of running down a Chicago firefighter on the Bishop Ford Freeway in December 2000 admitted drinking up to 10 beers before getting behind the wheel of his car, a Cook County prosecutor testified Tuesday.
State’s Atty. Nancy Galassini told jurors that Carlando Hurt, 27, gave a statement first admitting to drinking two beers, then five beers and later as many as 10 beers.
Galassini recounted the statement as testimony began in the trial of Hurt, who is charged with reckless homicide in the death of Lt. Scott Gillen, 37, who was at the scene of an accident.
In a courtroom overflowing with Chicago firefighters, Hurt’s lawyer, Daniel Hinich, acknowledged that jurors would hear evidence that Hurt had a few beers before his car struck the firefighter. But Hinich argued Hurt wasn’t intoxicated or driving recklessly when he hit Gillen, pinning the firefighter between the car and his fire engine.
“This was a tragic accident. Unfortunately, Carlando Hurt lost control of his car and hit Lt. Gillen,” Hinich said.
Prosecutors painted a different picture, telling jurors a drunken Hurt ignored the flashing lights of a fire engine, two state police cars and burning flares set on the road to merge traffic into the left lane of the Bishop Ford at 115th Street.
After Gillen’s wife, Teresa, tearfully identified her husband to jurors with a photograph, Assistant State’s Attys. Jim Byrne and David O’Connor called two witnesses who testified Hurt had been drinking beer at a party in Hammond shortly before the wreck.
Amy Mogelberg, who was Hurt’s girlfriend at the time, said that Hurt had been drinking and that he was agitated that evening because of an argument between them.
“He wasn’t paying attention to the road,” said Mogelberg, whom Hurt dropped off before the wreck. “He was more involved in the discussion we were having.”
Illinois State Police Officers Michael Kraft and Juan Valenzuela testified that, just before the crash that killed Gillen, they were called to an accident at the same site on the Bishop Ford Freeway.
Moments after Gillen and other firefighters stopped their engine in the center lane of the freeway, they were told no one had been hurt in the accident, Kraft testified.
As Gillen walked around the back of the fire engine, Hurt’s red Oldsmobile sped through the closed center lane at about 70 m.p.h., striking the firefighter before coming to rest in front of the fire engine, Valenzuela testified.
Both troopers testified to having closed all except the left lane of the freeway with a line of flares.
Three witnesses told jurors that all other traffic was moving at about 20 m.p.h. in the left lane when a red car sped past in the center lane at speeds between 50 and 60 m.p.h.
Gillen, a firefighter for 14 years, was airlifted to Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he died nearly 10 hours later. With the exception of a bruise to his face, Hurt was uninjured.
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, Gillen’s family gathered with firefighters, leaning on each other for support.
“This is sad to have to gather together with family and friends like this because one individual was so selfish and ignorant,” said Gillen’s brother Luke.
Gillen’s death prompted legislators to pass what is known as Scott’s Law. Motorists who fail to yield to emergency vehicles at the scene of an accident are subject to license suspension and fines of up to $10,000.
