Man charged with DUI for fatal Waukegan crash

A man has been charged with DUI for a crash that killed his passenger and injured two other people Thursday night in north suburban Waukegan.

Shortly before 9 p.m., 27-year-old Max Barraza was driving a pickup west on Washington Street near Green Bay Road at a high speed when the truck rear-ended another westbound vehicle, according to a statement from Waukegan police. That second vehicle then spun into the eastbound lanes and hit a third vehicle.

Barraza’s passenger, 35-year-old Adrian Biedzinski of Round Lake Beach, was trapped in the pickup after the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The two occupants of the vehicle that was rear-ended were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, police said. The two people who were in the third vehicle were not hurt.

Investigators believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash, and “early indicators point towards Barraza’s [blood alcohol content] being almost twice the legal limit,” according to police.

Barraza, of Spring Grove, was charged with DUI and aggravated DUI causing death, police said. He is being held at the Lake County Jail on a $250,000 bond and is expected to appear in court again on Monday.