Parents file lawsuit after deadly crash
CRYSTAL LAKE – The mother and father of a Crystal Lake man killed in a traffic accident last week filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Cook County court Monday.
No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the two-car crash that killed 22-year-old passenger Roger Czapski of Crystal Lake, who police said was the only one involved in the accident wearing a seat belt.
“This family lost a young man in the prime of his life,” said lawyer Timothy Cavanagh, representing Czapski’s parents. “He was a professional building toward a wonderful career. He was a great young man, and the jury will, I expect, hear what a terrific boy the family lost.”
Cavanagh said a hearing on his request for a protective order to preserve the vehicles involved and associated evidence will be heard in Cook County court at 9:15 a.m. today.
South Barrington police Sgt. Michael Deegan said no charges will be considered until after accident reconstructionist complete their investigation. He said the process could take up to a month.
Czapski was a Motor Werks of Barrington salesman accompanying a prospective customer and two other passengers on a test drive of a BMW 5-Series car when the Wednesday evening accident claimed his life at Algonquin Road and Willowmere Drive in South Barrington.
Four were injured and two remain in hospitals.
Cavanagh said he will try to prove that 20-year-old Christopher Maher of Iverness, the driver of the BMW in which Czapski was a passenger, and 25-year-old Sarah Ferris of Schaumburg, the driver of the Saturn also involved in the crash were responsible for Czpaski’s death.
The lawsuit alleges that both drove their respective vehicles too fast and did not take proper steps to avoid an accident.
Maher remained in critical condition at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood on Monday night. Passenger Paul Jasinski was upgraded to fair condition Monday after being listed in critical just after the crash, and passenger Thomas Guarnieri, 20, of Lake Barrington, was released from St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates over the weekend.
Ferris was treated and released at St. Alexius Medical Center on Wednesday. For more articles like this, visit our website.