Jury backs late CL man
By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI - jduchnowski@nwherald.com
CRYSTAL LAKE – A Cook County jury awarded $13.7 million to the family of a 22-year-old Crystal Lake man who died in an August 2004 accident.
Roger Czapski’s father, Mark, said the amount showed him that jurors understood his loss. The decision also showed that they gave little credence to the driver’s claims that Czapski contributed to his own death, Mark Czapski said.
“This is not about the amount; this is about clearing my son’s name,” Mark Czapski said. “[Driver Christopher] Maher blamed my son for the accident for four years. ... He can finally rest in peace.”
Roger Czapski was a car salesman who rode as a passenger when Maher, of Inverness, took a BMW 530i for a test drive. Maher, then 20, drove the vehicle east on Algonquin Road until it collided with a westbound 2002 Saturn that was making a left turn into Willow Creek Community Church near Willowmere Drive in South Barrington.
During the trial, Maher claimed that Czapski encouraged him to drive above the speed limit and violated Motor Werks’ policy by taking him outside the established test-drive route. Maher pleaded guilty in 2005 to a traffic charge of speeding at least 40 mph above the speed limit, said Tim Cavanagh, an attorney for the Czapski family.
Witnesses said the BMW was traveling 95 mph just before the collision; the posted speed limit was 45 mph. Czapski was pronounced dead at the scene.
The trial in the wrongful-death lawsuit Czapski’s family filed lasted about a week.
On Monday afternoon, jurors decided that Maher was 98 percent responsible for the accident and placed 2 percent of the blame on Czapski. Jurors cleared the Saturn’s driver of any liability.
Maher and two backseat passengers were hospitalized with injuries after the accident. The Saturn’s driver was treated at a hospital and released the day of the accident.
An attorney for Maher said Tuesday that he was unsure whether an appeal would be filed.
