Woman Killed When SUV Crashes Through Window

Nov.13, 2010— -- A Chicago area woman was crushed and killed early this morning when an SUV crashed through the window of her first floor garden apartment while she and her husband slept.

Police said they believe that the teenage driver was drunk at the time of the crash.

Josefina Prospero, 48, of Bolingbrook, Ill. and her husband Juan Nicolas Bernal, were asleep at 2:30 a.m. when the 2002 Chevrolet SUV crashed through their window.

Prospero was pronounced dead at the scene earlier today, while Bernal suffered minor cuts and bruises, and was able to make a statement at the police department.

The vehicle veered off the road and south through a common area in the apartment complex; it then veered towards Prospero's window.

"You definitely would question why a vehicle would be there," Bolingbrook Police Department Lt. Mike Rompa said. "It wasn't like it was someone parking and pushed the wrong pedal."

According to Prospero's brother, who was in the apartment at the time, the unidentified 17-year-old driver attempted to flee the scene after the accident, but was restrained by some of the neighbors who also heard the accident.

"It was about 2 a.m. It wasn't the crash that woke me up, it was the people outside as they were trying to detain the man until the police came," neighbor Jennifer Brown told WBBM-TV in Chicago. "It wasn't until hours later when I saw the police trucks come in and I went out to the front and saw the car was still inside of the apartment."

The driver was being questioned in custody today, though no formal charges have yet to be filed.

A 17-year-old passenger was released from custody earlier today, according to The Associated Press.

While Prospero's brother was too upset to speak further with the press, a neighbor, Asabel Osornieo, described the woman as a very hard working mother of two.

"She is personable. She is fun with everybody. She likes the kids. She has kids. She works hard and sends money to her family," Osornieo told ABC News station WLS-TV in Chicago.