By Josh Noel
The Chicago Tribune
STONE PARK, Ill. — Minutes before he died in a traffic crash, Ivano Mazzulla, a Stone Park police officer and the brother of the town’s mayor, was teaching his youngest son how to do tricks on a toy four-wheeler, family said.
When he realized a piece needed replacing, he hopped on his 2002 Suzuki motorcycle to fetch a replacement.
Minutes later, the 33-year-old father of three crashed the motorcycle into an SUV, authorities said.
Cook County Sheriff’s Police spokeswoman Penny Mateck said the accident happened about 2:20 p.m. Wednesday in Melrose Park, when Mazzulla was heading north in the 1700 block of Mannheim Road.
He hit a 1999 Ford Expedition driven by a 31-year-old woman from Leyden Township as she was turning left into a mall parking lot on a yellow light, Mateck said.
Mazzulla, who was wearing a helmet, careened off the sport-utility vehicle and hit a third vehicle, a 1981 Mercury Sable, that was preparing to leave the parking lot. Mazzulla died at the scene.
The driver of the SUV was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, and the driver of the Sable was unhurt, Mateck said. The investigation continues.
Mazzulla was a corporal who led a patrol unit in the police department of 16 sworn officers, said Police Chief Giuseppe Capece, who was also Mazzulla’s uncle by marriage. Mazzulla’s brother, Beniamino Mazzulla, has been mayor of Stone Park since 2001.
Ivano Mazzulla became a Stone Park police officer in 2001 and earned several commendations, Capece said. Among the most recent was a certificate for delivering a baby in a woman’s home. Capece said Mazzulla had to break the door down before helping to deliver the baby.
“He thought it was only in the movies,” Capece said. “He was very proud of it.”
Mazzulla was born in Stone Park and attended Proviso West High School in Hillside.
“He was concerned about the town because he lived his whole life here,” Capece said.
Survivors include his wife and his children, ages 6, 7 and 9.
Capece said his nephew was an experienced motorcycle driver.
“He knew how to ride a bike,” he said.
Copyright 2008 The Chicago Tribune