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The three-day trial of a Chicago man ended with a guilty verdict Thursday afternoon in Kosciusko Superior Court I.
Tadeusz Dylak, 57, of Chicago, was found guilty of reckless homicide, a Class C felony, around 4 p.m. Thursday. He faces eight years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. Dylak's sentencing was set for Feb. 17 at 8:30 a.m.
The jury began deliberations around 11 a.m. Thursday and re-entered the courtroom after lunch after requesting to hear Dylak's testimony again. The jury returned its guilty verdict at 4 p.m.
Dylak was driving a semi-tractor-trailer May 13, 2003, and ran a red light at the U.S. 30 and Center Street intersection in Warsaw, striking a vehicle driven by Douglas Raber.
Raber was turning left from Center Street onto U.S. 30 westbound when his Chevrolet pickup was hit in the driver's side by an eastbound semi driven by Dylak.
Raber suffered multiple blunt-trauma injuries and was airlifted to Parkview Hospital from the crash scene. Raber, who was unconscious at the scene of the accident, was trapped in his pickup until rescue workers were able to free him.
Raber, 50 at the time of his death, was taken off life support six days after the accident, and was pronounced dead at Parkview Hospital.
Witnesses to the accident told police that Dylak disregarded the red traffic signal for traffic on U.S. 30. An accident report noted Dylak was cited for disregarding an automatic signal.
A crash reconstructionist reported Dylak entered the intersection eight to 10 seconds after the light had turned red, and approximately 15 seconds after it was yellow.
