Woman, 56, critically injured in hit-and-run in Portage Park crosswalk, Chicago police looking for driver

CHICAGO — Chicago police are looking for the driver in a hit-and-run that critically injured a pedestrian Wednesday night at a Portage Park intersection that area residents say is dangerous.

The victim, who police say is a 56-year-old woman, remains hospitalized at Lutheran General in Park Ridge, where she’s reportedly in critical condition.

According to police, the woman was in a crosswalk in the 5900 block of West Irving Park Road just before 8 p.m. Wednesday when she was hit by a black SUV going west on Irving Park. After hitting the victim, police say the driver took off rather than stopping to help.

“I think it’s just terrible, not even taking the time to make sure that someone’s OK,” Portage Park resident Javier Zavala told WGN News on Thursday.

Police say nobody is yet in custody, and Area Five detectives are investigating. Police have also not yet released any photos of a possible suspected vehicle or license plate information.

While it isn’t clear whether the crash was captured by surveillance cameras on businesses, the intersection where the crash occurred is photo-enforced and also has a POD camera, so it’s possible there may be video of the incident.

Dangerous intersection

While area residents said they were saddened by Wednesday’s incident, they weren’t entirely surprised, given the history of drivers at that intersection of W. Irving Park Rd. and North Austin Avenue.

“It’s happened a few times, that I’ve had to step back from cars,” a student from the area, who didn’t want to disclose his full name, told WGN. “Me and my friends, we like triple-check every time we come over here.

“… Even if you do (look both ways), there’s always a chance that a car is still going to come anyway and not stop.”

Said Zavala: “When the light’s turning red, sometimes people are turning (and) not paying attention.”

There have been previous crashes in the same area, including one in May 2021 when a driver speeding west on Irving Park clipped a car, hit a light pole and slammed into a cleaners business, just steps from where Wednesday’s hit-and-run happened.

Area residents hope drivers will use more caution in the area after such incidents.

“I hope going forward people take this as a learning lesson and actually just pay attention to what they’re doing and be careful out here,” Zavala said.

Anyone with information on Wednesday’s hit-and-run is urged to reach out to CPD.