Police set up sting at dangerous Des Plaines crosswalk

DES PLAINES, Ill. (WLS) -- Authorities in northwest suburban Des Plaines are looking into a new option to keep a crosswalk safe after three people were hit by cars on Thursday.

The first crash happened around 1:45 p.m. right in the heart of downtown Des Plaines on Miner Street at the Metra stop.

Irma Diaz, 69, was crossing the street to visit her mother in the hospital. She had just had lunch at the Sugar Bowl restaurant. Employee Mikki Ragusin talked to her moments before Diaz was hit by a car while in the crosswalk.

"All of a sudden I looked up and people are going, 'Oh my God, somebody got hit.' I came out and saw who it was and it was a woman who always comes in here usually on the weekends with her husband, once in a while by herself and yesterday was one of those days," Ragusin said.

Diaz is in surgical intensive care at Lutheran General in critical condition.

Police said Veronica Kiefer, 88, failed to stop at the crosswalk and slammed into Diaz.

As police were investigating that crash, less than 20 minutes later, two 13-year-old girls were walking their bikes in the marked crosswalk when police say Sabiha Sultana, 32, struck both the girls, injuring one of them seriously.

One of the teens has been released from the hospital with a fractured clavicle; the other has a skull fracture and is still recovering.

Although the crosswalk is well-marked, police are going to take things a step further to prevent these crashes from happening again.

"We will have to look with public works and probably talk to Illinois Department of Transportation regarding putting up a flashing pedestrian crossing sign," said Chief William Kushner, Des Plaines Police Dept.

Both drivers were ticketed for not stopping for pedestrians. Kiefer was also cited for having an expired driver's license.

On Thursday morning, police set up a sting operation to catch drivers that don't stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk.