Chicago DJ charged with aggravated DUI in fatal rollover
Wed. January 21, 2015 7:30 AM by Andy Ambrosius
rafael "dj lego" rodriguez
photo credit // facebook.com/lego24
DJ Lego, who was seriously hurt after flipping a car onto a frozen pond Monday, held a nearly two-decade residency at Boom Boom Room and a short stint at Boystown’s Hydrate Nightclub.
Chicago, IL -
A well-known Chicago DJ has been charged in a fatal crash where his car veered off Lake Shore Drive early Monday, crashing and flipping on a frozen pond in Lincoln Park leaving one dead.
The driver Rafael Rodriguez, 42, was charged with driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license and failure to reduce speed, according to NBC Chicago.
Rodriguez was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Lakeview where he remains in police custody. He is more commonly known in Chicago as DJ Lego, a DJ at the now-shuttered "Boom Boom Room" and Hydrate Nightclub in 2004.
Advocate representative Timothy Nelson told ChicagoPride.com Rodriguez is now upgraded from critical to fair condition.
Police say the crash happened at around 1:45 a.m. when Rodriguez drove his black vehicle south in the 2200 block of Lake Shore Drive. The car broke through the guardrail just behind the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Rescuers used saws to cut open the vehicle and extract two victims. The female passenger identified as Claudia Beruben, 37, of Calumet Park was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She was later pronounced dead. She was the single mother of a 3-year-old girl.
Beruben's family set up a fundraising page for her daughter.
A friend and fellow DJ also told FOX 32 that Rodriguez finished his first shift at Time, a dance club on Orleans near Chicago Avenue, near 11:20 p.m. Sunday. He left to go see another DJ who was performing at Smart Bar, and was reportedly not drinking. Rodriguez was due back for another shift at 1:30 a.m. but did not return.
Rodriguez has been a DJ in Chicago since 19-years-old, and in 1992 landed a residency at the city's longest-running dance night known as "Boom Boom Room" at the Green Dolphin.
The driver Rafael Rodriguez, 42, was charged with driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license and failure to reduce speed, according to NBC Chicago.
Rodriguez was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Lakeview where he remains in police custody. He is more commonly known in Chicago as DJ Lego, a DJ at the now-shuttered "Boom Boom Room" and Hydrate Nightclub in 2004.
Advocate representative Timothy Nelson told ChicagoPride.com Rodriguez is now upgraded from critical to fair condition.
Police say the crash happened at around 1:45 a.m. when Rodriguez drove his black vehicle south in the 2200 block of Lake Shore Drive. The car broke through the guardrail just behind the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Rescuers used saws to cut open the vehicle and extract two victims. The female passenger identified as Claudia Beruben, 37, of Calumet Park was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She was later pronounced dead. She was the single mother of a 3-year-old girl.
Beruben's family set up a fundraising page for her daughter.
A friend and fellow DJ also told FOX 32 that Rodriguez finished his first shift at Time, a dance club on Orleans near Chicago Avenue, near 11:20 p.m. Sunday. He left to go see another DJ who was performing at Smart Bar, and was reportedly not drinking. Rodriguez was due back for another shift at 1:30 a.m. but did not return.
Rodriguez has been a DJ in Chicago since 19-years-old, and in 1992 landed a residency at the city's longest-running dance night known as "Boom Boom Room" at the Green Dolphin.