Octavius Simmons was a new CTA bus operator. His colleagues described him as a beautiful soul who was grateful for the opportunity to serve Chicago’s transit riders.

He was a father of two.

On Friday morning at 2:39 a.m., he was struck and killed on the Dan Ryan Expressway by a driver who fled without stopping. He was 35 years old.

The Crash

At approximately 2:39 a.m. on Friday, August 28, 2026, Illinois State Police responded to a crash on northbound Interstate 94 near 47th Street in the local lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway.

Simmons was standing outside a red Jeep SUV that was stopped in the center lane when he was struck by a separate vehicle, according to Illinois State Police.

Simmons was transported to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The driver of the striking vehicle fled the scene. No arrests had been announced as of Friday morning.

Illinois State Police Are Seeking Help

Illinois State Police said investigators are seeking the public’s help in identifying the vehicle involved.

Authorities have not yet released a description of the suspect vehicle.

Anyone who witnessed a person standing in front of a red Jeep SUV being struck on northbound I-94 at 47th Street around 2:39 a.m. on Friday, or anyone with dash camera footage of the crash, is asked to contact Illinois State Police Zone 1 at 847-294-4400 or email [email protected]. Witnesses may remain anonymous.

His CTA Family Mourns

News of Simmons’ death spread quickly among Chicago’s CTA community on Friday morning, with colleagues and fellow operators sharing their grief publicly on social media.

A CTA colleague wrote that Simmons was a new bus operator who was grateful for the opportunity to work there.

She described him as a beautiful soul gone far too soon and asked the CTA family to keep his family in prayer.

A fellow CTA bus operator wrote that behind every operator is a family, someone waiting for that phone call, someone expecting them to walk through that door, someone who loves them and needs them to come home.

He asked that Simmons’ name not simply become another headline and that the CTA family stand beside his family and support one another.

A fellow CTA trainee wrote that the class lost Simmons in a hit-and-run on the Dan Ryan at 2:30 that morning and urged anyone with information to contact Chicago Police.

Another operator wrote that in the last few weeks the CTA family had suffered so many losses and that it was getting hard to look at the memorial board.

She asked Chicagoans to be kind to CTA operators because they carry a weight that most people never see.

Chicago Crime Chaser extends its deepest condolences to Octavius Simmons’ family, his two children, and the entire CTA operator community.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Illinois State Police Zone 1 at 847-294-4400 or email [email protected].