Driver Charged With Murder For Fatal Rear-End Crash On Edens

SKOKIE, Ill. (STMW) -- A north suburban man whose car rear-ended an SUV on the Edens Expressway early Sunday causing a fatal accident has been charged with murder, according to state police.

Jose L. Colon, 21, of Lincolnwood was driving a white, 2-passenger Audi that rear-ended a Chevrolet Tracker SUV on the southbound Edens near Touhy Avenue in Skokie about 1:45 a.m. Sunday, according to Illinois State Police.

"The impact caused both vehicles to lose control, run off the roadway to the right, and strike the ditch on the right side," a Tuesday statement from ISP said.

The driver of the SUV, Samee Ranginwala, of the 100 block of Essex Road in Mankato, Minn., was trapped in the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene at 2:09 a.m., according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.

An autopsy Sunday found Ranginwala died of brain injuries suffered in the crash and his death was ruled an accident, the medical examiner's office said.

Colon, who was hospitalized with minor injuries, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, ISP said. He will appear in bond court Wednesday morning in Skokie.

Both vehicles were completely mangled and stopped at separate ends of what ISP Master Sgt. George Jimenez said was a "quarter-mile-long crash scene."

All southbound lanes were closed for almost six hours.