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JEFFERSON PARK — Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza Monday blasted State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office for allowing a man she caught barreling through a red light and smashing into four parked cars before fleeing the scene to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge and serve no jail time.
Mendoza was out for a bicycle ride in September 2017 with her family when a black truck driven by John Boyle barreled through a Far Northwest Side intersection and struck four cars before driving away, as first reported by the Tribune.
Mendoza caught up with the man, and recorded him before he fled again.
Mendoza gave the video to police, and Boyle turned himself in several days later.
“I am disappointed that ‘Quarters’ Boyle received no jail time after he recklessly caused a 4-car accident two years ago,” Mendoza said in a statement released by her state office. “His conviction today for fleeing the scene is better than nothing. But the innocent drivers in those cars he hit deserved more justice.”
Mendoza said she encouraged Foxx’s office to charge Boyle with DUI, reckless driving, battery or with impersonating a police officer.
In a statement, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said “the evidence related to this case and the law did not support a felony charge.”
Boyle was sentenced to 12 months conditional discharge, must attend a victim impact panel, and pay a $500 fine as well as $424 in court fees and costs, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
That “resolution was appropriate for this traffic offense,” according to the state’s attorney’s office
Boyle was convicted in 1992 of embezzling millions of dollars in nickels, dimes and quarters from the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, earning the nickname “Quarters.”
Despite that conviction, Boyle was hired by the city in 1997 and oversaw the city’s Hired Truck program, which became embroiled in scandal. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to extorting bribes as part of the investigation into the program.
Mendoza’s criticism of Foxx comes after the state’s attorney has been harshly criticized for her office’s decision to drop all charges against Jussie Smollett, who had been accused of filing a false report of a hate crime.
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