A young father’s death beneath the tires of an 18-wheeler Tuesday night led to a rampage against the truck’s driver, as a mob wrested him from his cab and pummeled his head with their feet and hands, police said.
When two ambulances arrived near the intersection of West 51st Street and Ashland Avenue at 8:45 p.m., they found a bloodied Eddie Boyd, 22, near the tail end of the stopped trailer, authorities said. Driver Miguel Chavez, 39, lay on the street next to the cab.
Boyd was pronounced dead 80 minutes later in Mt. Sinai Hospital, while Chavez remained in serious condition Wednesday evening in Stroger Hospital.
Pandemonium ensued as soon as Boyd was crushed beneath the westbound truck, witnesses said.
“I saw a lot of guys getting inside the cab, beating the man up,” said Joseph Eagle, 48, who is Boyd’s uncle. “After beating him up on the inside, I saw them pulling him out on the outside. Maybe 15 guys.”
Lavarious West, 22, of the 7200 block of South Honore Street, was charged with aggravated battery in the attack on the driver. Police are seeking at least two other men, said Sgt. Edward Alonzo.
Police cited Chavez with striking a pedestrian in the roadway. The veteran driver for Cicero-based Cushing Transportation Inc. was pulling an empty trailer for shipping containers between two railroad yards Tuesday night, his regular route, said Mary Jo Arredia, Cushing’s safety director.
Boyd was spending time with family and friends in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. Another uncle has an apartment in the area and Joseph Eagle makes deliveries for Kennedy Fish & Chicken on the block, family members said.
Boyd was walking away from an argument when he raised his arm to throw away an empty beer bottle and his sleeve snagged on the oncoming truck, said his girlfriend, Kia Watson.
“Once I saw that truck snatch him under the wheels, I couldn’t look anymore,” Watson said.
Soon, bottles started flying at the cab and a group of men dragged Chavez from his vehicle, punching and kicking him in the head.
Chavez of Cicero tried dialing 911 on his cell phone, but a connection wasn’t made before he was yanked outside, his wife, Maria, said. His skull was fractured, his jaw and nose were broken, and he has cranial blood clots, she said.
This is the second instance of mob violence after a fatal crash in Chicago. In July 2002, an enraged mob pulled driver Jack Moore and passenger Anthony Stuckey from a van after it plowed into a crowded porch. They were kicked and bludgeoned to death.
While eight men were charged in that killing, the prosecution was hamstrung by a shortage of witnesses. None was convicted of first-degree murder.
In Tuesday’s fatal crash and retaliation, witnesses had fuzzy recollections of the beating.
“As far as who jumped on the truck driver, I don’t know who did that because it was like a Bears game out here. It was so many people out here,” said Billy Cash, 48, who helps out at the liquor store on the block. “I just saw everyone just running around like crazy.”
Joseph Eagle said his attention was on his nephew.
“It hurts to see someone of your own blood trapped and there ain’t nothing you can do. I’m not like Hercules. I can’t try to grab the tire and pull it off him. All I can do is just pray to God,” he said.
Boyd lived with his mother and other family members in the 4000 block of South Wabash Avenue. He worked for Aaron Brothers Moving System Inc. and had a 5-year-old daughter, family members said.
