4 killed in crash with CTA bus in East Garfield Park

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - Four people were killed in a crash Sunday morning between a CTA bus and a car in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side.

A Buick LeSabre was speeding west about 6:15 a.m. in the 2600 block of West Madison when the driver lost control, struck a parked vehicle and then collided with a CTA bus head-on, police said.

The driver of the Buick, 27-year-old Bernard Therowchatman, and one of his passengers, a 23-year-old Erica L. Williams, were taken to Stroger Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. Therowchatman lived in west suburban Oak Park, and Williams lived in the West Town neighborhood.

Two other passengers in the Buick, Ashley Moore, 25, and Tycika Fairley, 22, were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, authorities said. Both women lived in the same block in the Lawndale neighborhood.

The bus driver and four passengers on the bus suffered injuries that weren’t thought to be life-threatening, police said.

Alcohol was found in the Buick, police said. The police Major Accidents Investigation Unit is investigating.

The CTA is assisting Chicago Police with the investigation, CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski said.