Montgomery man receives 15-year prison sentence after fleeing from police following fatal crash

A Montgomery man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after fleeing from police following a fatal crash in 2022.

Saul Muro Jr., 28, was sentenced on July 23 by Kendall County Judge Jody Gleason for reckless homicide, leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident and possession of a controlled substance as part of a plea agreement. The charges against Muro stem from a single vehicle crash that occurred at 8:32 p.m. Jan. 12, 2022, near the intersection of Briarcliff and Bereman roads in Oswego Township.

According to the Kendall County Sheriff’s office, a Montgomery police officer stopped Muro’s Chevrolet Trailblazer on Route 30 near Briarcliff Road prior to the crash. As the officer approached the Trailblazer, Muro fled the scene. The officer later located the Trailblazer after it had struck a tree along Briarcliff Road near Bereman Road.

The officer found Jose A. Cardoza-Chavez, 26, of Montgomery suffering from serious injuries in the Trailblazer’s passenger seat and discovered the driver had fled the scene. It later was discovered that Muro was on parole at the time he fled from police and was in possession of a controlled substance.

Oswego Fire Protection District paramedics took Cardoza-Chavez to Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora where he was later pronounced dead.

Police located Muro near the scene of the crash several hours later.

“In the past few years we have seen an increase in the number of individuals who flee from officers during traffic stops,” Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis said in talking about the sentence. “Certain people think that fleeing from the police is a non-violent crime. However, they fail to realize that when this occurs, you not only put yourself in danger, but you put your passengers and the public at great risk. Hopefully this sentence will deter others from making the same decision in the future.”