Driver of pickup drives off bridge in Bedford Park south of Midway International Airport and near the Southwest Side of Chicago; four northwest suburban teens killed by the crash (Jasmine Minor/ABC 7 Chicago). YouTube Tips ⓘ
Cristofer Lopez Montan, age 19, of Woodstock, Yuarem Garcia-Pena, age 18, of Woodstock, Yaritza Martinez Villeda, age 17, of Crystal Lake, and Vanessa Morales, age 14, of Palatine are dead after the then unknown driver of a red Silverado pickup truck, while fleeing a police pursuit, crashed into a freight train after flying off the edge of the Cicero Avenue bridge in the block of 6900 South Cicero Avenue in Bedford Park. The crash occurred a few blocks south of Midway International Airport about 2:16 a.m. Sunday, July 26, 2026.
Two male occupants and a female occupant were pronounced dead at the scene about 2:45 a.m., and a second female occupant, age 14, survived a few hours after she was transported to an undisclosed area hospital. She was initially listed in critical condition, but died about 5:35 a.m. Sunday.
Surveillance video shows car fly off roadway, crash into freight train box car after terminated police pursuit in Bedford Park near the Southwest Side of Chicago (Angelica Sanchez/WGN News). YouTube Tips ⓘ
A series mischievous events began when Chicago police responded to a report that a person in a pickup truck displayed a gun in the 22nd District, according to a Chicago Police Department statement.
The 22nd District CPD police station (Morgan Park neighborhood) is located at 1900 West Monterey Avenue, Chicago on the city’s Far Southwest Side. The 22nd District neighborhoods include Auburn Gresham, Mount Greenwood, Morgan Park, Roseland, Beverly, and Washington Heights, which also includes the Beverly Arts Center and the Morgan Park Sports Center.
The Morgan Park neighborhood is about 6 miles southeast of Midway International Airport.
Also, according to CPD radio traffic, CPD officers patrolling the Morgan Park neighborhood reported that someone in a Chevy pickup truck pointed a rifle out the window at them near 112th Street and Bishop Street in the Morgan Park neighborhood at about 12:44 a.m. The driver of the pickup truck headed southbound on Bishop Street.
Next, the suspected red Chevy Silverado pickup truck with tinted windows and unknown occupants, entered northbound I-57, and the pursuit was quickly terminated by 12:46 a.m., as ordered by a CPD supervisor.
Illinois State Police were notified by CPD.
Later, at about 2:06 a.m., an Illinois State Police trooper located the the red Chevy Silverado pickup truck wanted for investigation on southbound Cicero Avenue near Hawthorne Racecourse (Pershing Road and then 40th Street). The Illinois State Police trooper followed the pickup truck without pursuing, passing under I-55 and passing Archer Avenue.
Next, at about 2:14 a.m., the Illinois State Police trooper activated his flashing lights, and there was a traffic stop accompanied by Chicago police officers for a short time in the block of 5500 South Cicero Avenue near Midway International Airport. However, the driver of the red pickup truck fled again within about a minute. Illinois State Police radio communications indicated that the driver of the vehicle was fleeing the traffic stop, while Chicago Police Department police officers, who had also responded to assist, were now leading the pursuit. A Chicago police on the CPD radio indicated the driver of the pickup truck was driving in the opposite lanes of traffic while southbound on Cicero Avenue.
As the driver of the vehicle was continuing to flee police at a high rate of speed, the vehicle left the roadway, flew off a bridge, and hit a freight box car at a trajectory of about a 30-degree angle from the ground in the 6900 block of South Cicero Avenue. A surveillance video captured the trajectory and the crash. Initially, it was unknown what caused the driver of the pickup truck to drive off the bridge, and crash into the freight train box car.
Chicago police officers behind the pickup truck witnessed the pickup truck go over the Cicero Avenue bridge.
Bedford Park police also discovered the crash about 2:17 a.m.
Trains were ordered stopped, and the four victims were found inside the pickup truck unresponsive.
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