CHICAGO — A man accused in the drunken-driving deaths of two 17-year-old girls in Poland escaped from a hospital there after the 1994 crash, fled his homeland and hid for nearly 15 years in Chicago.

The past caught up to Andrezej Piotrowicz, 35, in November 2009, when U.S. marshals arrested him after being tipped off by Polish authorities who tracked him to a brick home in Chicago's Belmont Heights neighborhood.

An extradition hearing was held in January, and a federal judge is expected to rule soon on Poland's request. The ultimate decision will be made by the U.S. State Department.

The arrest shocked Piotrowicz's bosses and co-workers at a precision machining firm, where he was employed for 10 years. He was described as a kind, talented operator who worked 60-hour weeks. He speaks only Polish.

"We're not sure what exactly happened. It's kind of a big surprise," said Joe Sowa, manager of L and W Tool and Screw Machine Corp. "He's very hard-working, always courteous, overall just a very good man.

A somewhat different picture of Piotrowicz is painted in court records.

On a cool July night in 1994, in the Polish port town of Ustka, a popular summer tourism spot on the Baltic Sea, Piotrowicz drove two girls home from a disco.

Piotrowicz, then 20, was drunk and speeding east out of town on a curvy, unlit road when his car skidded off the road and slammed into a tree. Two passengers, Patrycja Kaczmarczyk and Malgorzata Osiak, were killed.

Blood drawn at the hospital showed Piotrowicz had a blood-alcohol level of 1.23, six times the country's legal threshold, according to court records.

The figure is 15 times the legal threshold in Illinois.

It was unclear how Piotrowicz, who had suffered a concussion, was able to flee the country.

Piotrowicz's sister, Ewa Gorska, whose family was vacationing at Ustka, told police her brother was "broken" when she visited him the day after the crash.

"He asked me whether he will go to jail, but I told him we will do everything to prevent his imprisonment," Gorska said in a signed statement. Hospital staff members noticed her brother was missing that same day.

Piotrowicz first appears in Chicago-area public records in 1995, when he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, court records show. On May 31, 1996, he got an Illinois driver's license, according to the secretary of state's office.

Piotrowicz bought his Belmont Heights home in 1999, records show. The brick home with a basketball hoop on the backyard garage has his name on the mailbox.

A woman who answered Piotrowicz's cell phone declined to comment.

His attorney, Michael Ettinger, argued the statute of limitations to prosecute the crime had expired in 2004.

The Polish government contends it can pursue charges in the case until 2019 under its extradition treaty with the United States. Ettinger said the Polish government's opinion — that the 10-year limit began with Piotrowicz's arrest in November — would make the treaty "meaningless."

"It's terrible," Ettinger said. "These are real nice people."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Yeadon, who prosecuted the case, said so many years had lapsed since the fatal crash "in large part because Mr. Piotrowicz left the hospital where he was being treated and then wasn't seen."

It just says,

GAMES FOR SIX BILLION DOLLARS

The eyes of the entire world in a week's time are going to be directed to Vancouver, who will welcome athletes from over 80 countries. It's the third time the Games have been run in Canada - previously in Montreal and Calgary.

It then talks about Montreal being a financial disaster, Calgary was better, basically the first paragraph talks about the spiralling costs of the games.

Second paragrap talks about residents maybe not being 100% thrilled with the games and the costs.

Nothing about Pedobear or the icons used.