Cynthia Tatman, 56, was jogging east on Devon Avenue in the westbound traffic lanes when she was struck Tuesday morning. This picture was taken by an Edgebrook home's security system. [Angie Stancy/Google Street View]

NORWOOD PARK — When Edgebrook resident Angie Stancy heard that a jogger had been struck and killed on Devon Avenue near Milwaukee Avenue on Tuesday morning, she knew immediately what happened.

For months, Stancy and other Edgebrook residents had complained on social media — and to police — about the woman who jogged on the road early in the morning against traffic, seemingly oblivious to the danger.

Heather Cherone talks about the death of jogger Cynthia Tatman.

"She would run right in front of a car and force the car to stop," Stancy told DNAinfo. "She was totally focused on running, and didn't seem to notice how dangerous what she was doing was."

Cynthia Tatman, 56, was jogging east in the 6300 block of west Devon Avenue in the westbound traffic lanes when she was critically injured, said Chicago Police Officer Nicole Trainor, a spokeswoman for the department.

The crash happened after the driver of a car swerved to avoid Tatman, but the car behind it was unable to avoid hitting her, Trainor said.

Chicago Police are determining whether to charge the driver of the car in connection with the crash, according to a Police Department statement.

The stretch of Devon Avenue where the accident occurred has sidewalks and is next to the Caldwell Woods forest preserve.

Tatman lived about a mile away from where she was struck, police said.

Efforts by DNAinfo to reach Tatman's relatives were unsuccessful.

In February, a man posted on NextDoor.com — a neighborhood-based social network — that he almost hit the woman, who was dressed in all black, while on his way to work. He warned others to be on the lookout for her.

That message drew 76 comments, including dozens from Far Northwest Side residents recounting their own close calls with the jogger and wondering what they could do to prevent what many said was her inevitable death or injury.

"I'd hate to be the person who accidentally hits her," Stancy posted.

Stancy — along with several drivers — wrote that they stopped their cars to tell the woman how much danger she was in while running in the street, only to be cursed at or ignored.

"She was very belligerent when I spoke with her," Stancy said, who captured the jogger in the street in front of her home with her security system. "It was very frustrating."

Others suggested taking up a collection to buy reflective clothing for her, while some said they had asked police from Chicago and Niles to speak to her.

Complaints on NextDoor about the jogger date to October, but Dawn Saphir-Pruett said she saw the jogger nearly every day for three or four years on her way to work.

"It got to the point where when I got to that part of my commute, I knew to be ready to swerve to avoid her," Saphir-Pruett said. "I always checked to make sure I could change lanes and avoid her."

But even though Saphir-Pruett was on the look out for the jogger, she was very hard to see in the dark mornings of fall and winter.

"She often wore dark clothes with a hat pulled down low over her eyes," Saphir-Pruett said.

Both Saphir-Pruett and Stancy said they did not think the driver should face any charges in connection with the fatal accident.

"I feel terrible for the driver," Saphir-Pruett said.

Chicago Area Runners Association training director Leah Bohr said that while her organization advises its members to run only on paths separated from traffic, some do prefer to run in the opposite direction of traffic.

"Some people say they like to see what is coming at them," Bohr said.

However, there are plenty of "preventive measures" runners can take to reduce the threat of being struck, Bohr said.

"This is an incredibly sad, unfortunate situation," Bohr said. "I feel so sorry for the runner's family as well as the driver and his or her family."

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