Not Guilty Plea In 2022 Crash That Killed Orland Trustee's Parents

JOLIET, IL — A Joliet man charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI in a 2022 crash that killed the parents of an Orland Park trustee pleaded not guilty in Will County Circuit Court Friday morning, records show.

More than a year after the Homer Glen crash that killed the parents of Orland trustee Joni Radaszewski, Christopher Haramija, 38, of Joliet was indicted last month and was arraigned Friday.

Haramija, 38, of Joliet, was driving westbound on 143rd Street, near Hillcrest Road, on June 21, 2022, when his vehicle went into oncoming traffic, police said at the time. His vehicle struck two cars, causing one to catch fire. Four people were critically injured, and two people—Kathleen Repsis, 73, and Adrian Spaargaren, 77—died in the crash.

Orland Park trustee Joni Radaszewski was driving the car that carried her father, Spaargaren, and her mother, Repsis. Repsis was pronounced dead at the scene; Spaargaren was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, where he later died.

Haramija was taken to an area hospital with multiple injuries, police said. In June 2022, he was initially cited with improper lane use, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and transportation of open alcohol.

Homer Glen-Lockport Patch reported that in an indictment filed on Sept. 14, Haramija would be charged with five counts of aggravated driving under the influence, six counts of reckless homicide and two counts of reckless conduct. A warrant was issued for Haramija in September, and bond was set at $100,000.

"While nothing can bring my parents back," Radaszewski told Patch last month, "the warrant offers a small sense of comfort knowing that steps are being taken to provide justice for my family."

According to the indictment, Haramija drove his car "at a speed that endangered the safety of any person or property," and he did not main his own westbound single lane of travel.

"He left the single westbound lane of travel, and he drove across the double yellow lines indicating a no passing zone, and into and in the oncoming single eastbound lane of travel," the indictment states.

Haramija is next due in court Dec. 1, according to court records.

— Patch Editor Andrea Earnest contributed to this report.