Authorities say Hampshire man left cyclist to die in Elk Grove

A Hampshire man who authorities say was driving a semitrailer truck that struck and killed a bicyclist in Elk Grove Village last week faces a charge of failing to report an accident causing a death.

If convicted of the felony, Waldemar Buczak, 64, faces up to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Buczak was traveling south on Busse Road a little after 9 p.m. Aug. 18 when he struck the victim, who was bicycling through the intersection at Louis Avenue.

Authorities identified the victim as Jose Cobian of Chicago.

Buczak pulled to the side, activated his hazard lights, got out of his vehicle and walked to where the man was lying, prosecutors said.

“The defendant did not attempt to render aid,” said Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Dominica Puglise. “Instead, he walked back to his truck, got in and completed his work for the evening.”

A witness called police, but Cobian was dead by the time officers arrived, Puglise said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office determined he died from multiple injuries suffered when hit by the truck.

Surveillance video shows the truck entering a nearby transportation company located on Louis Avenue, where police learned a truck driver named Walter had transported a trailer from Aug. 17 to 18, Puglise said. Police subsequently learned Buczak drove for another company and obtained that firm’s daily driver’s log from Aug. 18, Puglise said.

Buczak admitted to police on Aug. 20 that he was driving the truck “but denied knowing he had struck anyone and denied getting out of his truck,” Puglise said.

But surveillance video from a nearby business showed an individual getting out of the truck and standing a few feet from a tire that had broken off the victim’s bike, she said.

The video also shows the truck driving toward the transportation company on Louis Avenue.

A search warrant for Buczak’s phone placed it at a Lunt Avenue address where police located the truck, Puglise said.

The truck had “presumed biological material” on a back mudflap and a broken hose piece under the engine that matched a piece found at the crash site, she said.

Buczak was ordered held on $20,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court Sept. 30.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20220824/authorities-say-hampshire-man-left-cyclist-to-die-in-elk-grove