Morton Grove crash: Paweł Malecki charged with DUI after passersby rescued him from vehicle struck by Amtrak train on Lehigh Avenue

MORTON GROVE, Ill. (WLS) — A man was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after a car accident vehicle collided with a train on Thursday evening in the northern suburbs.

Witnesses told ABC7 that an Amtrak train collided with a car moments after a group of good Samaritans helped the driver from the vehicle that was stuck on the tracks in Morton Grove. However, when the police arrived on the scene, the driver was arrested.

Morton Grove police say Malecki was driving under the influence of alcohol. A Mount Prospect man has been arrested and charged with driving under the influence.

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Debris from the crash was cleared from the tracks on Friday, but witness David Murphy still feels the tragedy in Morton Grove.

“He didn’t slow down. He didn’t stop,” said witness David Murphy. – I mean, I don’t think it’s possible.

Murphy had just gotten off the subway and was heading home Thursday night.

“It just went right through the car,” Murphy said. “I was probably one of the first people in that group and a car in front of us went right in front of us, not at the intersection, but on the grass, onto the tracks and kind of flipped over parallel to the track going south. “

Police said Paweł Malecki, 56, was driving when he struck a parked vehicle on nearby Lehigh Avenue and then drove onto the tracks, disabling his Acura.

“When we got close to the car, he was still there, trying to tamper with it on the south track,” Murphy said. “So we started yelling at him, ‘You need to get out of the car.’ One of the Metra passengers grabbed him and helped him off the tracks.”

Just minutes after taking Malecki to safety, he spoke with officers who initially responded to the reckless driving complaint.

“The first Amtrak train that came through was going pretty fast,” Murphy said. “I mean, I don’t know how fast Amtrak goes. He felt 50, 60 miles an hour and hit the car.”

Fortunately, no one else was in the car when the Amtrak train split the vehicle in half.

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Police said Malecki is no longer in custody. He is scheduled to appear in court in Skokie in December.

“He will have other things on his mind, but he will see another day,” Murphy said.