A 24-year-old Dolton man was ordered held today on $500,000 bail in a fatal crash
early Sunday on the Bishop Ford Expressway.
Prosecutors said that at about 3:27 a.m. Sunday, Travis Berry was driving a
1994 blue Lincoln Town Car on Interstate 94 near 111th Street.
A witness, also driving on I-94, said Berry was traveling at a high rate of
speed and approached him from behind. The witness changed lanes and allowed
Berry to pass,
Soon after, Berry's vehicle crashed into the back of a gold 2001 Pontiac
Grand Am, prosecutors said. The impact of the collision caused both vehicles to
spin out of control and the Pontiac landed facing northbound.
Jonell Barlow, 27, and his girlfriend were trapped inside the Grand Am and
had to be extricated by fire officials. Rescuers could see Barlow's hands
sticking up from the debris.
Berry got out of his car and walked to victim's car where he met the witness
and told the witness he had been driving the blue Lincoln. The witness said he
could smell alcohol coming from Berry.
Berry tried to leave the scene by walking up an exit ramp at 111th Street,
but another witness and an Illinois Department of Transportation worker brought
him back to the scene and waited for police.
The second witness said Berry's speech was slurred, his eyes were red and
there was a smell of alcohol.
Barlow, of the 1800 block of Dylane Drive in Griffith, Ind., was pronounced
dead at the scene. His girlfriend was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in
Oak Lawn where she was treated for blunt force trauma to the head, a bruised
lung and bleeding on the brain.
Berry was taken to Roseland Community Hospital where his blood alcohol
registered at .188; the legal limit is .08. He also tested positive for
marijuana.
Berry previously was sentenced to court supervision in 2009 and 2011 for
driving on a suspended license, according to prosecutors. He received
supervision for illegal transportation of alcohol in 2011.
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