41-year-old man charged with fatal Little Village crash

A 41-year-old man has been charged with causing a crash Friday evening that left a man dead in the Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

Octavio Navarro, of Berwyn, was charged with reckless homicide, driving under the influence, driving too fast for conditions, failure to reduce speed, and reckless driving on a revoked license, Chicago Police said.

Navarro was driving a Jeep Wrangler the wrong way in the southbound lanes of the 2400 block of South Kostner when he sideswiped two vehicles and then collided with another vehicle driven by 34-year-old Enrique Ramirez Cicernos of Cicero, authorities said.

Navarro was driving the Jeep more than 55 mph when he slammed into Cicernos’ vehicle, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Cicernos was pronounced dead and a passenger in his vehicle was taken to a hospital with injuries, but was expected to survive, authorities said. An autopsy Saturday found Cisneros died from injuries related to the crash and his death was ruled an accident.

Navarro was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment and underwent surgery to one of his eyes, according to police testimony at his bail hearing Monday.

His blood tested positive for marijuana and PCP when it was drawn at the hospital after the crash, prosecutors said.

Navarro remained hospitalized Monday and was not present in court. His bail was set at $250,000, and his next court date was scheduled for Friday.