Woman fatally struck on Near North Side by driver speeding in reverse

A woman was fatally struck by a vehicle that reversed into her Sunday on the Near North Side near Washington Park.

The 68-year-old was walking her dog in a crosswalk on Dearborn Street at Delaware Place about 11:45 a.m. when she was hit by a vehicle, Chicago police said.

A witness told police they saw a vehicle rapidly accelerating in reverse and strike the woman, police said.

The woman, Linda Havlin, was taken to Northwest Memorial Hospital, where she died four days later at 3:49 a.m. Thursday, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

An autopsy released Friday found that Havlin, who lived within a block from where she was struck, died from multiple injuries from from a vehicle striking a pedestrian, the medical examiner’s office said. Her death was ruled accidental.

The driver who struck her was issued two citations for unlawfully driving in reverse and for striking a pedestrian in a crosswalk, police said.