Intoxicated Bicyclist Dies After Collision On Milwaukee

By Pam DeFiglio

Update, 2:45 p.m.

Stanley Lorkiewicz was crossing Jonquil Avenue at Milwaukee Avenue in Niles and was in the crosswalk when a female motorist tapped his bike with her vehicle, according to Niles Police Department Division Commander Vincenzo Genualdi. 

The police department received an anonymous call, likely from another motorist, reporting the incident at 7:52 a.m. Monday. When police arrived, Lorkiewicz told the officer that the woman who tapped his bicycle with her vehicle stopped, asked him if he was OK and offered assistance. Lorkiewicz said he told her he was fine, and she left before police arrived, Genualdi said.

When police got to the scene, Lorkiewicz had gotten back on his bicycle. He told the officer he did not need medical attention, and signed a release form to that effect. He did not appear to have hit his head, and his bicycle did not appear damaged, Genualdi said.

The officer smelled the odor of alcohol on Lorkiewicz's breath, and administered a blood-alcohol test, which indicated Lorkiewicz was intoxicated, Genualdi said.

As the officer was filling out a report, he heard the sound of the bicycle falling over, and saw Lorkiewicz on the ground. The officer checked Lorkiewicz, who had collapsed, and he did not have a pulse. The officer administered an automatic external defibrillator, and revived Lorkiewicz, according to Genualdi. Niles Fire Department paramedics then took him to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. 

Lorkiewicz was still alive when he left the scene, Genualdi said. Lorkiewicz died at 8:48 a.m.

The Niles Police Department has three automatic external defibrillators, which police routinely carry in squad cars while on patrol.

Patch will update further if information on autopsy results becomes available. 

Original story: 

A 72-year-old man, who lived very close to Niles in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood, died Monday after a collision with a vehicle on Milwaukee Avenue in Niles.

Stanley Lorkiewicz, of the 7500 block of Octavia, Chicago, was riding his bicycle on Milwaukee Avenue early Monday morning when he was "tapped" in a collision with a vehicle and fell on a grassy area, said Niles Police Division Commander Joseph Penze.

The motorist stopped and talked to Lorkiewicz, who did not seem injured at the time, except for a cut, Penze said, and the motorist left.  Police arrived and Lorkiewicz signed a medical release declining treatment. While the police officer was completing the report, Lorkiewicz passed out and fell on the grass, Penze said.

Lorkiewicz was revived and taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead at 8:48 a.m. on Sept. 23, according to the Chicago Tribune. 

Police do not have identifying information on the motorist, Penze said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office is expected to release the results of an autopsy soon; Patch will update when that information becomes available.