Man dragged by car, killed, while trying to sell his phone

A 43-year-old Chicago man was killed last week when he was dragged by a car driven by a 17-year-old girl at a north suburban Meijer parking lot, where he was supposed to sell a woman in the car his cellphone.

Around 7:55 p.m. April 24, police responded to a report of a man struck by a vehicle in the grocery parking lot at 750 E. Rollins Rd. in Round Lake Beach, according to Round Lake Beach Chief of Police Michael Scott.

When officers arrived they spotted Trinidad Bueno-Sanchez lying on the ground, conscious, Scott said. Bueno-Sanchez was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with life-threatening injuries, and later died there.

Police and the Lake County Major Crime Task Force learned Buneo-Sanchez had placed an ad to sell his phone on an app called, “Offer Up,” Scott said. He was contacted by Courtney A. Sherman, 18, to buy it for an agreed-upon price.

Buneo-Sanchez and Sherman agreed to meet in the Meijer parking lot, Scott said. Sherman arrived in a vehicle driven by a 17-year-old girl with four other girls, all 16 to 17, in the vehicle.

He went up to the passenger side of the car and and spoke to Sherman, who asked to see the phone. She handed him an envelope with a portion of the money they discussed, Scott said. Buneo-Sanchez was leaning into the passenger-side window of the car, discussing the set price, when the driver accelerated.

His body was dragged by the vehicle, eventually became detached and he fell, striking his head on the pavement as the vehicle drove off, Scott said. After questioning, police learned Sherman and the girls had planned to steal the phone.

Bueno-Sanchez’s death was ruled a homicide caused by head trauma, according to the Lake County coroner’s office.

Sherman, of Fox Lake, was arrested and charged with reckless homicide and robbery, police said. She was ordered held on a $500,000 bond, Scott said. Two of the 17-year-old girls were also charged with reckless homicide and robbery, and were taken to the Depke Juvenile Complex Center in Vernon Hills.