Man, 68, dies after hit-and-run crash near Prairie View

PRAIRIE VIEW, Ill. (WLS) -- A man was struck and killed on his street in a hit-and-run crash in unincorporated Prairie View.

The Lake County sheriff's office responded to a report of an elderly person lying near a road in the 16000-block of West Pope Boulevard around 11 p.m. Monday. They found an unresponsive man in a ditch.

He was rushed to Condell Hospital, where he later died.

The sheriff's office identified the victim as James Spicak, 68. He lived on the same block where the hit-and-run occurred.

Spicak owned a construction company that built a remodeled homes, and neighbors say the stand he built that anchored all of the mail boxes on his street was one of the things he was most proud of.

Investigators said an unknown vehicle traveling west on Pope near North Eugene Avenue struck several mailboxes as well as Spicak. He was found lying near his mailbox.

The crash happened in front of Martha Rodriguez's house, but she says she didn't know anything had happened at first.

"But when I saw the lights, the fireman was there so that's when I saw the man on the floor," Rodriguez says, "but I didn't recognize him."

She saw paramedics trying to revive Spicak before he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Neighbors say he may have just returned from visiting his wife, who is in the hospital after having a procedure.

"She was in the hospital last night and probably he came back from there, so that's why he pick up his mail too late," Rodriguez says.

Neighbors say the father of two adult daughters was retired, but kept himself busy with different projects. Now they're trying to make sense of what happened, and hope investigators track down the driver of the car.

"I'm just shocked," says Lisa Hermosillo, one of Spicak's neighbors. "I mean, I'm blown away to hear this because you don't ever think it's your neighbor. I thought it was just somebody down the block because there's a lot of people who walk, and jog, and ride their bike and walk their dog."

Anyone with information regarding the crash, or if they see a vehicle with fresh or new damage, should call the Lake County sheriff's office at (847) 549-5200 or Lake County Crime Stoppers at (847) 662-2222.