Web Extra!
An Austin area motorcyclist was killed this morning after she struck a van allegedly making an illegal U-turn at the entrance to the Austin Blue Line station.
Police say Lolita Brown, 40, of 5501 W. Congress Parkway had just dropped off a passenger at the train station and started to make a U-turn from the far right southbound lane when her van was struck by a motorcycle driven by Jamilla Simms, 26.
"She made it perpendicular to Austin Boulevard," Oak Park Police Commander Len Jorgensen said of the van, which effectively blocked both lanes of southbound traffic.
Simms, 26, of 5918 W. Washington, Chicago, who was not wearing a helmet and suffered what were called "massive head injuries." She was rushed to Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, where she was pronounced dead at 11:30 a.m.
Brown was arrested and ticketed for improper standing on the roadway, improper U-turn on a hill, and no proof of insurance. She has an Oct. 14 court date.
-Bill Dwyer
