Two men face multiple charges after a pair of hit-and-run crashes in a Chicago suburb left a 9-year-old boy seriously injured.
Police were called just before 5 p.m. on Saturday for a crash in Green Oaks, LakeMcHenryScanner.com reported, and learned that a silver pickup truck had hit the vehicle and then fled the scene.
The 9-year-old boy suffered serious injuries in the crash and was taken to Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. He is expected to survive.
Investigators then learned that the same truck had been involved in another hit-and run earlier in Waukegan. While fleeing from that initial crash, the truck’s driver — identified as 29-year-old Paul Zawojski — passed another vehicle and nearly forced it off the road. As the truck sped by, its passenger — identified as 31-year-old Chase Parthe — brandished a handgun and fired shots, although it wasn’t clear if he aimed.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office broadcast a description of the truck and the suspects, and a Highland Park police officer spotted the vehicle and stopped it, holding Zawojski and Parthe at the scene until deputies arrived.
Deputies recovered a 9mm firearm and multiple narcotics inside the truck.
Parthe was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, reckless discharge of a firearm, and multiple drug charges. Zawojski faces drug and alcohol charges along with failure to report a crash causing injury and numerous traffic violations.
Both men made a first appearance Sunday morning and will appear for a detention hearing on Monday.
