Man jailed on Shorewood reckless homicide charge over deadly July 9 crash

A Cicero man was jailed on charges alleging that he recklessly caused the death of a motorcycle rider this past summer in Shorewood while under the influence of marijuana.

At 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, Joshua Nieves, 20, was booked into the Will County jail on a $100,000 bond set by Judge Carmen Goodman at the request of prosecutors.

An indictment alleged that in July 9, Nieves drove a Dodge Charger on Route 52 in Shorewood and crashed into a motorcycle driven by Samual Cooper.

The indictment alleged that Nieves was under the influence of marijuana at the time he was involved in the crash that led to Cooper’s death.

Nieves was accused in the indictment of failing to yield to Cooper’s motorcycle.

Nieves was formally charged Oct. 20 with aggravate driving under the influence and reckless homicide.

Nieves appeared in court Nov. 1 for his arraignment, and he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On Nov. 30, prosecutors filed a motion to schedule a court hearing to set a monetary bond for Nieves and establish conditions for his release from custody.

Goodman set Nieves’ bond at $100,000 and ordered him to take a drug test on all future court dates.

Nieves still was in jail as of Friday evening.

After the July 9 crash, Nieves initially was cited by Shorewood police for operating an uninsured motor vehicle, failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident and failing to yield to another vehicle while turning left.

Nieves was scheduled for a bench trial Oct. 4, but the case was dismissed that day.