15 September 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chief Weitzel tweitzel@riverside.il.us 708.447.2127 - Follow RPD on Twitter @pdriverside

Riverside Police Arrest Hit and Run Driver
Driver/Vehicle strikes two cars then flees after leaving license plate at scene.
Driver charged with texting while driving
On Sunday, September 14, 2014 at 1:25 p.m., the Riverside Police Department received multiple 911 calls from
residents and victims reporting a hit and run at Harlem and Herrick. The suspect then fled from the scene westbound
on Herrick into Riverside. As officers were responding to the scene, residents had come out of their homes and were
pointing in the direction the car was last seen. The first officer went to the scene and recovered the license plate. As
police were checking on the registration of the license plate, residents continued to give them the last direction of
travel. Officers then left that scene to see if they could locate the vehicle. The offending vehicle information was
passed on to Berwyn PD as the vehicle may have fled eastbound after coming into Riverside initially westbound.
Approximately ten minutes later, Berwyn Police spotted the vehicle. Riverside Police then responded to 30
th
and
Maple in Berwyn where the Berwyn Police Department was holding the suspect. Police were able to match up the
license plate recovered at the scene with the one that was still on the vehicle. Additionally, the victims identified both
the vehicle and driver as the one who had struck multiple vehicles at Harlem and Herrick.
This accident actually involved two vehicles being struck by the offender.
Once at the station, it was learned that the driver of the offending vehicle was texting on his phone at the time of the
accident. There were minor injuries as a result of this crash, however, all the victims were treated by paramedics at
the scene and refused transportation to a medical facility.
Arrested for multiple traffic offenses including two counts hit and run, leaving the scene of an accident,
driving too fast for conditions was Steven M. Rogosich, 52 of the 5800 block of West 55
th
Street in Chicago.
Mr. Rogosich was also booked for texting while driving (which caused an accident).
The offending vehicle was initially northbound Harlem in Berwyn when he looked down to his phone to text and then
struck two separate vehicles that were traveling southbound on Harlem at Herrick>
The offender was driving a 2002 Econoline E150 truck. The vehicles he struck were a 2006 Hyundai Tucson and a
2013 Volkswagen Passat.
EWS RELEASE
RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT
31 Riverside Road, Riverside, IL 60546