Lawsuit filed against driver cited in fatal Des Plaines crash

The wife of a Mount Prospect man killed in a May crash in northwest suburban Des Plaines has filed a lawsuit against the driver who crashed into his vehicle.

Maysa Maswadi filed the suit Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court and seeks more than $100,000 in damages.

The two-vehicle crash happened about 9:30 a.m. May 9 in the 500 block of North River Road, according to Des Plaines police and the suit.

A 77-year-old Rosemont woman driving a 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee north on River Road tried to turn left into All Saints Cemetery and crashed into a 2002 Mercedes S430 heading south in which Belal Tebakhi, 41, was riding, police said.

The woman and Tebakhi were both taken to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where Tebakhi was pronounced dead, police said.

The woman was cited for failure to yield while turning left, police said.

The suit accuses the woman of contributing to Tebakhi’s death by driving negligently. It seeks damages for hospital and funeral expenses and for the loss of support to, and mental suffering of, Maswadi and her two children.