PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - A Peoria man has been arrested on charges that he was taking part in a street race when four women in the other vehicle were killed in a crash over the weekend.
Jerome Polnitz, 42, was arrested and booked into the Peoria County Jail on charges of street racing, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, failure to give aid, speeding and driving on a suspended license. He remained in custody on Thursday.
Peoria Police told the (Peoria) Journal Star that a car that was driven by Polnitz and the other car occupied by the women were speeding down Washington Street in Peoria early Sunday when the other driver lost control, veered off the roadway and slammed into a tree. Pronounced dead at the scene were Jazzman Burns, 22; Quanylan Thomas, 19; Tyesha Thomas, 18; and Diamond Williams, 18.
All of the victims were graduates of Manual Academy in Peoria.
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