After witnessing a hit-and-run, she's pleading for the driver to come forward
CHICAGO (CBS) – A woman who witnessed a hit-and-run over the weekend is pleading for the driver to come forward.
Dashcam captured the crash involving a cyclist near Montrose and Maplewood on Saturday. CBS 2's Noel Brennan spoke with the witness who feels personally invested in catching the driver.
"Saturday, my family and I were headed to a family function for Memorial Day," said Judy, who didn't want to give her last name.
Her memory is sharper than the dashcam video. She can picture the cyclist, riding on Montrose in Lincoln Square.
"For some reason, and I don't know why, I was fixated on this biker," she said. "He just caught my attention and I saw every single, terrible moment."
The moments were captured frame by frame.
"And it was really hard to watch," she said. "It's really hard to watch."
Judy's husband was behind the wheel as they watched an SUV take a left turn, right into the cyclist.
"Hit him and then continued on," she said, adding, "It just breaks my heart to know that somebody would hit somebody like that and then just leave."
Judy said she thinks the SUV involved in the hit-and-run could be a black Infinity QX56.
She and her husband made a split decision.
"About a second later, I said, 'Let's go.' And my husband, we have a Tesla, which is a fast car, and he just followed her, and it was something out of a Steve McQueen movie," Judy said. "They were turning down alleys really fast, and it seemed like they really knew what they were doing."
They gave up the chase and checked on the cyclist.
"There was a pool of blood all around him," Judy said. "He was talking on his phone, so we at least know that he was able to talk."
The cyclist is a stranger to Judy, but justice could not be more personal.
"My sister, Janet … she was only 35 years old," Judy said.
She lost her big sister when she was killed by a hit-and-run driver in 1986.
"Smart, beautiful, she had modeled," Judy said. "Eight years older than me, so I didn't have enough time with her."
More than 36 years later, Judy still chases after justice.
"I'm doing this for Janet," she said.
Judy believes she witnessed this hit-and-run for a reason and she hopes her words sway a driver to do the right thing.
"You can't get away with hurting people," Judy said. "You gotta have a soul. You gotta have a heart. You gotta care about your fellow humans."
Judy said the cyclist was taken to a hospital. She never got his name, but wonders every day how he's doing.
