Note: The video in the player above is from a previous report.
A 21-year-old Northbrook man charged in the fatal Glenview crash that killed a high school student was ordered to remain in custody Saturday as court documents revealed disturbing details leading up to the crash.
According to police, Taeyeon Kim was arrested on Friday night and charged with the following crimes:
- reckless murder
- Serious drunk driving with death, Serious drunk driving with serious bodily injury, Reckless driving
- Drunk driving, speeding, drunk driving with a blood alcohol concentration over 0.08
- Driving under the influence of drugs, improper lane use, failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident
The 21-year-old appeared for a bond court hearing on Saturday and was ordered to remain in custody.
According to court documents, Kim’s car was equipped with a dashcam that initially showed him driving a 2021 Ford Mustang with one of his friends, who was a passenger. Ta.
According to court documents, Kim’s dashcam first captured the car driving near her home around 8 p.m. Sunday before heading into downtown Chicago.
Bond court proponents say Kim’s dashcam shows him running a red light at Roosevelt Road and speeding down Ida B. Wells Drive just before 11 p.m. before making a U-turn. A vehicle was caught passing many other vehicles.
From there, Kim’s vehicle merged onto westbound Interstate 90/94 and continued to drive at high speed, passing numerous vehicles, according to court documents.
Kim’s vehicle then merged onto I-94 at the junction of I-90 and I-94 and continued on the Edens Expressway until 11:06 p.m., after which Kim’s vehicle He got off at Lake Avenue in Glenview, court documents show.
At this time, Kim continued driving west on Lake Avenue and passed another driver who was traveling in the same direction. According to court documents, the driver observed Kim’s car speed up and turn off its headlights.
The source said Kim continued toward the intersection of Lake Avenue and Meadow Lane, where the victim was in a vehicle.
According to court documents, the car was being driven by 17-year-old Marko Niketic, with his 16-year-old girlfriend in the passenger seat.
The informant said Niketic then turned on his left turn signal and entered the intersection to turn onto Lake Avenue, which was recorded on a civilian surveillance camera.
As Niketic began to turn, Kim’s car approached the intersection at high speed with its headlights off. Just as Kim was entering the intersection, Kim’s car collided with Niketic’s car and its headlights turned on again, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Kim’s car was seen on a dashcam entering the intersection before it went dark.
The front of Kim’s car struck the driver’s side of Niketyk’s car at 192 mph, cutting Niketyk’s car in two, according to court documents.
The front half of Niketic’s car was left in the driveway, while the back half crashed through a fence and into a nearby backyard, court documents said.
Sources said many nearby residents heard the impact of the crash and immediately called 911. Witnesses who arrived at the scene shortly after said they saw Niketic dead inside the car.
Niketic’s girlfriend suffered severe injuries in the accident, including a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a cerebral hematoma, a fractured pelvic vertebrae, and hyperdensity in the frontal lobe of the left brain, which was accompanied by loss of consciousness and seizures. She was released from the hospital on Friday, according to court documents.
According to the source, at least two witnesses saw Kim sitting in the driver’s seat of the Mustang, and Kim gave them his first name and admitted he had been drinking. At this time, Kim’s passenger was seen lying on the ground bleeding profusely.
Police and paramedics pronounced Niketic dead at the scene, and Kim and his passenger were hospitalized, along with Niketic’s girlfriend.
Kim’s passenger, who suffered a broken back and severed artery in the crash, gave a statement on a body-worn camera identifying Kim as the driver of the Mustang, according to court documents.
Kim suffered a fractured femur in the accident, and a blood sample taken during treatment revealed that his blood alcohol concentration was 0.088, which exceeds the legal limit. Court documents also revealed that marijuana was detected in his blood.
When Kim’s Mustang was searched, the speedometer needle was stuck at 120 mph, the vehicle’s maximum speed, according to court documents.
Inside the vehicle, officers found a bong, rolling papers, a single-shot marijuana pipe with residue, and two plastic containers containing marijuana residue, the source said.
According to the bail court proponent, a search warrant was executed on the vehicle’s black box and revealed that Kim’s vehicle was traveling at 131 mph just 2.5 seconds before the crash, and that the recorded speed at the time of the crash was 122 mph. Something has been shown. . The speed limit on Lake Avenue at that location is 55 mph.
Kim had a valid driver’s license at the time of the incident and had been issued with two minor traffic violations in Lake County since 2021, one for speeding and one for disregarding a traffic control device. He has no other criminal history. Mr. Kim received supervision for both crimes.
According to Glenbrook South High School, the accident occurred just days before Marco’s senior prom and three weeks before graduation.
Throughout the week, emotional groups of family and friends visited the crash site, many leaving candles, photos and flowers at the scene.
“He’s one of those people,” said friend Preston Shute, fighting back tears. “When you meet him, he just lights up. He’s the most genuine human being you’ll ever meet.” “He had a lot going on. I can’t quite handle it.”
