Chicago police: Former North Side alderman behind wheel of Audi that struck eight cars along four blocks of Gold Coast street
Proco “Joe” Moreno, 48, was taken to
As of Monday morning no charges had been announced against Moreno, who is still fighting charges of insurance fraud and obstruction of justice from an incident in early 2019 when prosecutors say Moreno falsely claimed his 2016 Audi A6 had been stolen from his garage. Moreno allegedly had turned the car and its keys over willingly only hours earlier to a woman he had dated.
Moreno could not be reached for comment Monday.
On Sunday night, police say, Moreno was driving a 2017 Audi A6 that hit a parked car in the 1500 block of North Astor, not far from where Gov. J.B. Pritzer lives. The Audi then struck four more cars in the 1300 and 1200 blocks, police said.
The Audi was then thrown in reverse and sped backward, a door attendant and other witnesses told police. It hit the front of one car, knocking it onto the sidewalk, and struck two more cars before turning onto Division Street, where it crashed into a tree, police said.
A police officer “was dispatched to a call of a reckless driver” and found Moreno in the driver’s seat of the Audi, according to police. He was taken to
Among the cars damaged were a Lexus RX, a Volkswagen Jetta, a Mitsubishi Mirage, a Honda Pilot and a Jeep Cherokee, police said.
Moreno was arrested on
In reality, he handed over his keys and watched Hrabar drive away from his house, then texted her with a request not to smoke in the car, Assistant State’s Attorney
Hrabar was later arrested when she was stopped while driving what officers believed was a stolen car.
Texts and phone records did not back up Moreno’s claim that he couldn’t get in touch with Hrabar, the prosecutor said. The charges against Hrabar were dropped by prosecutors, and police opened an investigation into a possible false police report.
Moreno faces as many as seven years in prison if convicted of the most serious offenses. He was released on his own recognizance when he appeared before Judge
Moreno was represented in that case by Ald.
Brookins did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and it wasn’t clear whether he still was representing Moreno.
In
Moreno was appointed to the
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