A tragic hit-and-run incident unfolded late Tuesday night in Chicago’s West Lawn neighborhood, leaving one man dead. Authorities have confirmed the sequence of events that transpired shortly after 11 p.m. on South Pulaski Road.
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Enrique Nieto, the victim, was with his nephew, Cesar Nieto, dealing with a flat tire when the catastrophe struck. Cesar recounted the moment his uncle reached out to him for assistance with the tire on Pulaski, an act of familial support that would soon turn fateful.
Security cameras captured the harrowing scene as the pair worked on the vehicle. An orange Honda SUV barreled northward, striking Enrique while still crouched by the tire, police reported. The driver callously fled the scene, leaving devastation in their wake.
“I was right there, next to him,” Cesar recounted, describing the split-second decision to leap out of harm’s way. Despite his proximity to the back bumper, Cesar managed to avoid the SUV, but tragically, Enrique could not escape in time.
“I was next to him. So I jumped out the way because I was closest to the back bumper and he was by the tire crouched down,” Cesar said.
Cesar told ABC7 Enrique was trapped under the vehicle and was dragged several feet.
He tended to his uncle before an ambulance could get there.
“I was just trying to keep him breathing, talking to him,” Cesar said.
The 53-year-old was rushed to Christ Hospital where he died.
Enrique Nieto leaves behind four children. He lived in Gage Park and worked in construction.
Nobody is in custody.
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