‘Chunk of hair’ allegedly found on smashed windshield; cops say it resembles fatal hit-and-run victim’s hair — and case turns

Chicago police allegedly found a “chunk of hair” embedded in the smashed windshield of a vehicle they pulled over last week — and it just so happens that officers were investigating a fatal hit-and-run in the area, CWB Chicago said.

One factor that helped turn the case toward getting solved was that police allegedly noticed that the hair in the windshield resembled the hair of the deceased 76-year-old hit-and-run victim, the outlet noted.

Tolefree was charged with failure to report a fatal accident — which is a felony.

Patrolling officers on the city’s South Side found the victim lying lifeless in traffic lanes near 70th Street and Western Avenue just before 9:30 p.m. last Tuesday, CWB Chicago said.

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Witnesses told officers they saw the driver of a speeding silver vehicle strike the man while traveling north on Western, the outlet said, citing a police report — and the driver kept going.

More from CWB Chicago:

About 30 minutes later, officers at the crash scene saw a silver Hyundai Santa Fe travel past them with a heavily damaged front end and a “large crack” in the windshield, the report said.

Cops tried to stop the car, but the driver took “an unusual amount of time to pull over,” according to their report. Once the driver stopped, the cops allegedly found a “chunk of hair” similar to the victim’s embedded in the windshield. They said they also noticed Svedka vodka bottles on the passenger seat and under the driver’s seat, the report said.

Arresting officers said the driver, 29-year-old Nyamca Tolefree, asked “multiple times” to lean on their squad car so she could stay upright. Their report said they could “smell a heavy odor of alcoholic beverage” on her breath and body and said she exhibited “slurred, thick tongued and stuttered speech.”

Tolefree urinated on herself while riding to the hospital in the back seat of a squad car, CPD’s arrest report said. She refused sobriety tests and made “multiple utterances” about being involved in a crash while driving, according to the report.

While police initially indicated that Tolefree faced a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol, the outlet said prosecutors didn’t end up charging her with DUI.

CWB Chicago said, however, that Tolefree was charged with failure to report a fatal accident — which is a felony. She also was cited for transporting alcohol as a driver, failure to exercise due care, and failure to reduce speed, the outlet added.

Judge Luciano Panici Jr. ordered Tolefree detained pending trial, CWB Chicago reported.

Blaze News reached out to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for comment, particularly in regard to why Tolefree wasn’t ultimately charged with DUI — and officials there responded to Blaze News on Wednesday, saying they “approved the felony charge of Leaving the Scene of a Fatality, and the misdemeanor charge filed by police was dismissed.” The CCSAO added that Tolefree remains in custody at the Cook County Jail, and her next court appearance is scheduled for June 4.

“As this matter is pending litigation, we are unable to further comment,” the CCSAO added to Blaze News.

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