Elburn man gets 7 years for DUI crash that severed man’s leg

A west suburban man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for driving drunk and causing a crash that led to a motorcyclist losing his leg more than two years ago in rural Kane County.

Quinn Gabnay, 46, was convicted June 3 of four counts of aggravated DUI by Judge Donald Tegeler Jr., according to a statement from the Kane County state’s attorney’s office. It was his third DUI offense.

About 5 p.m. on May 17, 2014, Gabnay was driving his Dodge Ram pickup north on Green Road, just south of Smith Road in rural Kane County, when he crossed the center line and collided with a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, prosecutors said.

The motorcyclist, who was southbound on Green Road, had moved near the shoulder to try to avoid the collision when he saw the pickup move into his lane, prosecutors said.

He pulled the motorcycle into the field next to the road, called 911 and applied a tourniquet to his leg while he waited for paramedics to arrive.

The collision severed the motorcyclist’s left leg below the knee. His entire left leg was later amputated and he now wears a prosthetic, prosecutors said.

Gabnay’s blood-alcohol content was .192 shortly after the crash, near two-and-a-half times the Illinois legal limit, prosecutors said.

Judge Tegeler sentenced Gabnay to seven years in prison Friday, according to the statement. He was given credit for five days served in the Kane County Jail. He has been free since his arrest on a $2,500 bond.