Driver Fatally Strikes Woman Crossing Howard Street In Skokie: Police

SKOKIE, IL — A woman crossing the street in a crosswalk was struck and killed by a motorist Thursday in Skokie, police said.

Officers arrived at the scene of a collision between a car and a pedestrian the intersection of Howard Street and Skokie Boulevard shortly after 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, according to Skokie police.

Police said found a woman lying in the road near the Skokie Valley Trail crossing who had just been hit by a car.

"The preliminary investigation suggests that a vehicle traveling eastbound [on] Howard Street struck a pedestrian that traveled northbound within the crosswalk," according to a statement from Skokie police.

Renuka Desai, 70, was pronounced dead shortly before 6:30 p.m. after Skokie Fire Department paramedics rushed her to Evanston St. Francis Hospital, according to police and the medical examiner's office.

Skokie police called in investigators from the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force's Major Crash Assistance Team, or NORTAF MCAT, to help with the investigation.

A Skokie police spokesperson said the motorist did not flee the scene. No information about whether the driver was cooperating with investigators, what type of car was involved, whether investigators believe speed, distraction or intoxication may have played a role in the incident was available from police Friday.

Desai is the second person to be hit by a car while crossing the street in Skokie in the past week. A 58-year-old woman sufferedfractures and head trauma after she was hit by a car headed west on Touhy Avenue near the intersection of Central Avenue.