Orland Park trustee remains in hospital following collision that killed her parents

An Orland Park trustee remained hospitalized Tuesday following a June 21 three-vehicle crash in Homer Glen in which her parents were killed, according to sources.

Joni Radaszewski, elected a little more than a year ago, was driving a vehicle that was hit head-on in the crash, according to two sources.

Her parents, passengers in the car she was driving, died from their injuries. A Joliet man has been charged in connection with the collision, which occurred just before 5:30 p.m..

Her father, Adrian Spaargaren, 77, was in the front passenger seat of the Hyundai and the trustee’s mother, Kathleen Repsis, was in the back seat.

He was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox and was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. the evening of the crash, according to the Will County coroner’s office. Repsis was pronounced dead at the scene at 8 p.m., according to the coroner.

The 49-year-old trustee suffered extensive injuries and initially taken to an area hospital but was later transferred to a hospital in Chicago. Her condition was not available Tuesday.

Orland Park, through a spokeswoman, said the village was not commenting.

Radaszewski could not immediately be reached Tuesday.

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A Joliet man, Christopher Haramija, has been cited for improper lane use, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and transportation of open alcohol, according to the Will County sheriff’s office.

Police said that a preliminary investigation indicates a Nissan SUV driven by 37-year-old Haramija was traveling west on 143rd Street when he went into oncoming traffic.

The Nissan first struck a Lincoln SUV, driven by a 55-year-old man who refused medical treatment at the scene, and then struck the Hyundai head on causing the engine compartment to catch fire and engulf into flames, according to police.

Haramija was taken to a hospital with multiple injuries, and his front seat passenger, a 41-year-old man, was taken to the hospital as was a 33-year-old passenger in the back seat, according to police.

Radaszewski was elected in the spring 2021 election in which Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau won a second term and fellow trustee candidates Sean Kampas and Brian Riordan were elected on the People Over Politics ticket.

Haramija was, at the time of the crash, already facing charges in Will County stemming from a shooting last September in which he allegedly fired a gun in the direction of two women near a Mokena creek after they refused his request for help in extricating his Nissan SUV from mud.

mnolan@tribpub.com