This post is dedicated to a local friend who fell victim to a drunk driver (ironically was an off-duty police officer from Lockport, IL) and was tragically killed this past Sunday. Mike was a good kid… just a couple years younger than me and a ton of potential. I had seen him around here and there playing bball at church and Valentine’s. He was also the best man at one of the weddings I shot a couple years back. The cruelest of all ironies is that the drunk bastard always survives the accident and the innocent ones suffer the consequences. My buddy Monk asked me to stop by the Valentine’s Boys’ and Girls’ Club gym (where Mike often played) to get some photos of a ball, jersey and a pair of Jordans that they all signed and planned on offering it to their family. I jumped at the chance to help out.
Stories like this get me really upset. I now know 3 people that have been victimized by drunk drivers and I feel like people never learn. but c’mon.. a police officer? jeez. How many commercials do you need to watch before you (drinkers) actually understand what you’re doing? How many times are we going to have to bury an innocent kid before people freakin care and do something about it? I hope they make an example out of this fool because anything less would be a tragedy to society. I know a lot of you guys know Mike better than I do and I’m sure you’ve all got plenty of stories to tell about him. He was an honest, hard-working guy that left this world way too soon. There’s no better way to honor his life than to carry on his legacy and live by his example. My thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Wong family.
RIP Mike.
His wake is scheduled for Monday, December 28th, 2009 at Dalcamo Funeral Home and the Funeral on Tuesday, December 29th @ 9:30am.
Here’s a recent article on the latest news here in the Chicago Tribune:
A Cook County judge on Tuesday admonished a Lockport police officer accused of driving drunk and causing a fatal crash, saying he should know the consequences of drinking and driving. Prosecutors say Edward Stapinski drove his Mitsubishi Gallant about 80 mph into a median on Interstate Highway 55 Sunday night, flipping his car into oncoming traffic and hitting a Toyota Camry head-on. Man K. “Mike” Wong, 29, was killed in the crash. Blood tests showed Stapinski’s blood-alcohol level was 0.223, or about three times the legal limit, officials said. “This is an offense that resulted in the fatality of a person simply driving at a reasonable time of day on the expressway,” Associate Judge Maureen Feerick said at a Bridgeview bond hearing. Feerick said that as a police officer, Stapinski “held the public trust” and had a job that “gave him insight” into the consequences of his actions. Stapinski, 34, was off duty at the time of the 9:30 p.m. crash and was drinking beer at a West Loop bar from about 6 to 9 p.m., Assistant State’s Attorney John Carroll said. He was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence. His bond was set at $750,000, and he is forbidden from driving, will have to surrender his passport and any firearms in his possession as well as his firearm identification card, Feerick said. If convicted, Stapinski could face 3 to 14 years in prison, officials said. At the scene of the crash near Cicero Avenue, police said Stapinski declined a Breathalyzer test, but he had “bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a strong smell of alcohol.” He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where tests showed his blood-alcohol level was about three times the legal limit, Carroll said. Stapinski’s defense attorney, Matt Walsh, asked for a lower bond. He said Stapinski has been a police officer for 7 1/2 years and owns a house in Lockport, as do his parents. “The defendant knows the seriousness” of the charges, he said. Before the hearing, Wong’s family described him as a hard worker devoted to helping his relatives. He was returning home to Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood from a second job in the southwest suburbs when he was killed. The victim’s cousin, Prudence Wong, 15, said she worried the court would be lenient on Stapinski because he is a police officer. “I think he should stay in prison,” she said. “I’m saying that because I’m really enraged.”
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