Horrendous Fatal Crash With Semi In Joliet: Charges Filed 9 Months Later

JOLIET — Nine months after Joliet police announced that a Volkswagen Passat drove through the red light at the intersection of Route 53 and McDonough Street, colliding with a semi-trailer that had the green light, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow has charged a 29-year-old Joliet man in the death of his one of his passengers.

Charges were filed Monday at the courthouse against Cesar Carrillo-Castro, who remains at large. Will County Judge Art Smigielski signed the arrest warrant, authorizing the Joliet Police Department to take Carrillo into custody without release.

The warrant listed Carrillo as residing in the 800 block of Jasper Street, near Raynor Avenue.

According to his criminal complaint, Carrillo is charged with aggravated driving under the influence in the death of Joseil Escalona-Gomez because Carrillo's alcohol concentration was 0.08 or more as he drove the Volkswagen Passat on McDonough Street, resulting in his passenger's death. A total of nine charges of aggravated driving under the influence were filed against Carrillo.

One of the charges indicates that Carrillo "did not possess a driver's license or permit or a restricted driving permit or a judicial driving permit or a monitoring device driving permit."

In December, Joliet Patch reported that Escalona-Gomez, a 25-year-old Joliet woman, had died at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn following the early morning wreck with a semi-trailer along the entrance into downtown Joliet.

Escalonda-Gomez was a rear seat passenger in the vehicle. Four people in the car were from Joliet and one was from El Paso, Texas.

At 5:12 a.m. on Dec. 4, Joliet police officers responded to the intersection of South Chicago Street and McDonough Street for a traffic crash with injuries. A Volkswagen Passat driven by a 28-year-old man from Joliet was eastbound on McDonough Street approaching South Chicago Street.

The Volkswagen entered the intersection and struck the trailer of an International Harvester semi- truck driven by a 34-year-0ld Bensenville man who was southbound on South Chicago Street.

"It is believed that the traffic light was green for southbound Chicago Street traffic and red for eastbound McDonough Street traffic, however this remains under investigation," Joliet police announced at the time.