[Chicago Paper] Off-duty cop (drunk) charged in deadly crash

The passersby pulled on and pried at the crushed and burning vehicle's doors, trying to no avail to save the trapped motorists inside.

But a second driver who caused the fatal wreck walked away from the chaotic scene onto an expressway ramp, until a tow-truck driver and police officers stopped him, authorities said.

Now that driver, an off-duty Chicago police detective -- who sources say was drunk with a blood alcohol content three times the legal threshold -- is facing reckless homicide, DUI and other charges.

Joseph Frugoli, 41, slammed into a disabled car on the Dan Ryan Expressway early Friday, igniting the fiery crash that killed two people, authorities said. Frugoli is in police custody at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was being treated for injuries from the crash.
Andrew Cazares, 23, of the 7700 block of West 62nd Place in southwest suburban Summit and Fausto Manzera, 21, of Chicago died on impact, state police and the Cook County medical examiner's office said.

The crash occurred a little after 3:35 a.m. north of 18th Street on the southbound Dan Ryan Expressway. Cazares apparently had pulled his red Dodge over to the side of the Dan Ryan, possibly to deal with a flat tire, when the vehicle was struck from the rear by a Lexus SUV, state police said.

Frugoli was charged Friday evening with two counts each of reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence and one count of leaving the scene of a crash involving death, said Sally Daly, spokeswoman for State's Atty. Anita Alvarez. Frugoli is expected in Bond Court Saturday.

The Chicago Police Department said it has launched an internal investigation and has relieved the detective of his police powers. Frugoli, an 18-year veteran, worked in the Wentworth Area on the South Side.

Manzera and Cazares were good friends who were planning to spend Thursday night at a nightclub, said friend Fabian Chavez. The two went to the Mannequin Nightclub, just a few blocks from a bar where, police say, Frugoli may have been drinking. The friends may have been on their way back to the home of Manzera's father in Bridgeport, where Manzera lived, Chavez said.

Witness Marcus Copeland said he pulled over after seeing a bright flash and then a car aflame on the side of the expressway early Friday. He exited his car just north of 18th Street and heard another motorist yelling for help.

"He said, 'Someone's in there, bro. Let's go!' " Copeland said later. "We ran and rushed to the car. The person's not saying anything, the person was knocked out."

Copeland said the back of the car was on fire. He grabbed a crowbar from another motorist and tried prying the door open but couldn't. Someone even offered a golf club, he said.

"It was just too hot. We kept trying to reach in and grab the person, but the wind was blowing right in my face," he said. "We kept going to the car and then moving back to cool off.

"We just couldn't get to [the passenger]," said Copeland, 20. "There was nothing we could do. It was just the two of us."

Witnesses helped Frugoli from his vehicle because they thought his vehicle might catch fire too, state police said.

Frugoli walked away from the crash and was arrested on an exit ramp. Marisa Kollias, an Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said a tow-truck driver at the scene followed the detective and helped police find him a few blocks away.

Sources said police are investigating whether Frugoli was drinking at a Greektown bar before the crash. Employees at the bar Friday afternoon said they didn't recognize the officer's name. Frugoli is a homicide detective who worked the midnight shift in the Wentworth Area but was off duty at the time of the crash.

Frugoli was described by one former colleague as a good officer with few problems who loved his job. He is unmarried and both of his parents are deceased, the source said. His mother died in February. Frugoli also has a cousin on the force, the source said. A woman who answered the phone at the family's home declined to comment.

"He's a good person, a good policeman," said the police source, who has known the officer for years. "I've never seen him upset, never mad at anybody."

Jason Brown, a neighbor of the police officer, said he was shocked when he heard the news of the crash.

"I've never even seen him drunk, and I've known him for 20 years," Brown said. "Honestly, he's a great guy. He does a lot for this community. He's a good guy, and it's a shame. It was a bad mistake, I guess."

Frugoli had a few traffic incidents in the past. A Cook County judge on Tuesday ordered Frugoli to pay more than $7,000 in damages in a civil case involving a January 2005 crash on the Dan Ryan near 31st Street. Frugoli struck a 61-year-old man's vehicle from behind, pushing it into a median wall, and was cited for failure to reduce speed in that crash. The ticket was dropped.

Frugoli was cited in January 2008 for disregarding a stop sign on the South Side, but that ticket also was thrown out, court documents show. Two sources said there was an internal investigation into that incident. He allegedly struck a police vehicle near 39th Street while off duty, but that investigation was dropped.

In 1990, Frugoli was cited for driving 80 m.p.h. in a 50 m.p.h. zone, court documents show, but that ticket also was thrown out.

At a gathering of friends and family members at Cazares' home, one of Cazares' cousins described him as a hardworking, family-oriented man who was working to turn his life around after some difficult teenage years. Cazares attended Argo Community High School in Summit and lived with his parents.

"He was a good kid," said the cousin, who declined to give his name. "He was working construction and trying to make a better life for himself. ... It's very upsetting. He was so young and had a lot of life to live."

Manzera, 21, was a marketing student at DePaul University who loved art and music, friends and family said. He was a skateboarder, painted graffiti and went by the nickname "Afro," said friend Antal Alatorre, 22.

"It's tragic," said Chavez, 23. "[Manzera] was a really talented artist, and he wanted to get more into music. He had a lot of plans."

Cazares also was an artist and carried a notepad and pen with him for drawing, friends said. Cazares sometimes went by the nickname "Evol," which is "love" backward, a neighbor said.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard the news," said Vernazier Myles, a neighbor whose daughter Amber grew up with Cazares. "He was a real sweet kid."

Tribune reporters Matthew Walberg, Azam Ahmed, Robert Mitchum, Sara Olkon, Gaynor Hall and Pat Curry contributed to this report.

--Dan P. Blake, Joel Hood and Angela Rozas

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/04/2-dead-in-fiery-dan-ryan-crash.html


All I can say is...have a good trip to prison and don't drop the soap.