Chicago woman charged in DUI hit-and-run death of Edgewater cyclist

A Chicago woman faces charges in the death of bicyclist killed last month in Lincoln Square, according to police.

Kali Rynearson, a 30-year-old North Center resident, is facing a felony count of aggravated DUI leading to death along with six traffic citations — including three failures to stop at a stop sign — and a local ordinance violation for driving in a bike lane, police said.

Donald Heggemann, a 59-year-old ceramicist who lived in Edgewater, was riding about 8 p.m. Oct. 23 in a bike lane in the 5100 block of North Damen Avenue when he was hit about by a Volvo sedan, according to police.

Witnesses waved down a passing police car and officers were able to pull over the car that had driven away, according to a police report. Rynearson “failed to come to a complete stop” at three stop signs while police attempted to pull her over with lights and sirens, and once stopped, she consented to a Breathalyzer test.

The test results showed Rynearson had a 0.20 blood alcohol concentration — more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 — according to a police report. Police also searched her vehicle and found a half-empty, 750ml plastic bottle of whiskey in her purse.

Footage investigators pulled from a nearby POD camera showed Rynearson driving in the bike lane before the crash.

Rynearson could face three to 14 years in prison if convicted of the charges. She was released from custody Saturday and is set to appear in court again Tuesday.

The city has averaged about five cyclist-involved crashes per day, with 1,600 happening between January and November — a quarter of which were hit-and-runs, according to a WBEZ analysis.