Arrest warrant issued after man faces charges of causing fatal car crash in Des Plaines and fails to appear for trial

Eldor Akilov

A Cook County judge issued an arrest warrant Wednesday for a Florida man who failed to appear for the second day of his trial for a January 2020 car crash that killed a Des Plaines man and injured his then-10-year-old son. He faces charges related to that crash.

According to prosecutors, on January 5, 2020, just after 7 p.m., 37-year-old Eldor Akilov was drunk and driving northbound on Route 83 (also known as Elmhurst Road) at more than 40 mph when his Chevrolet Impala collided with a car driven by Alejandro Arzeta, killing the 46-year-old father of four.

Akilov's jury trial began Tuesday with testimony from an emergency room doctor and nurse at Endeavor Northwest Community Hospital who said the defendant was intoxicated when they treated him for injuries sustained in the crash.

According to medical reports, Akilov had a blood alcohol level of 0.220 – nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08. At the time of the crash, he was driving between 85 and 92 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone, prosecutors said.

“He (Akilov) didn't even hit the brakes,” Cook County Assistant District Attorney Nancy Nazarian said in her opening statement Tuesday.

Akilov's car spun and caught fire after the collision, authorities said. Two teenage employees of a nearby Boston Market ran out of the restaurant to pull Akilov from the burning vehicle.

The teenagers, then 17-year-old Ben Pennino and then 18-year-old Ryan Brock, later received lifesaving awards from the Mount Prospect Fire Department for their heroic actions.

According to court records, Cook County Judge Paul Pavlus, who is presiding over the trial at Skokie's Second Municipal District Courthouse, issued the arrest warrant on Wednesday.