Chicago man fatally struck by hit-and-run van in Des Plaines

Police are searching for the driver of a van that struck two men, killing one, as they were crossing the street Tuesday morning in northwest suburban Des Plaines.

The men got off a Pace bus about 6:15 a.m. and were crossing South Wolf Road westbound near Jarvis Avenue when they were struck by a “white work van,” according to Des Plaines Police Chief Bill Kushner. One of the men told investigators the pair “looked both ways” before they crossed.

They were taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where 52-year-old Roman Polniak was pronounced dead at 7:11 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived on Chicago’s Northwest Side.

The other man was expected to survive. The van sped away north on Wolf after the crash, Kushner said.

Police canvassed the area looking for surveillance videos from businesses or residences. Wolf was closed to traffic between Howard and Touhy Avenue for more than an hour after the crash.