Hit-And-Run Driver Leaves License Plate at Scene

By Jim Freeman

Daniel Wehr

CBS is reporting that a bicyclist was killed in Des Plaines last night by a hit-and-run driver.  Apparently, the driver was a United Airlines employee driving a company SUV.  At approximately 9:40pm the SUV, allegedly driven by United Airlines worker Daniel Wehr struck a bicyclist, 25 year old Jose Gomez of Des Plaines.  The collision occurred on Algonquin Road just West of Mount Prospect Road.  Wehr is alleged to have fled the scene.  When he was taken into custody at the United Airlines facility approximately six hours after the accident, he reportedly told police he didn't see Gomez until after the collision had occurred.

One aspect of this hit-and-run that is common is the fact that the driver left his plate at the scene.  This actually happens a lot in hit-and-run collisions.  We have handled at least a half a dozen hit-and-run collisions in which the driver fled the scene leaving his license plate behind.  License plate frames tend to break when a car strikes another object causing the license plate to fall off.  This has been instrumental in a number of cases to locate and identify the driver.  We once had a driver claim the plate was stolen before the hit-and-tun collision occurred, but through investigation we determined that the driver had reported the plate stolen three days after the collision and had purchased a replacement plate the same day.