‘Just Devastating’: Employee who died in auto-repair accident was local father of three, ‘best friend’ of owner

The owner of a Skokie auto repair shop said he might close the business after a car fell on top of his best friend and killed him while he reportedly was working on it outside the shop last week.

Skokie police and fire responded at 9:14 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10, to a report a vehicle had fallen onto someone at Midwest Autohaus, 5050 Dempster St., said Skokie Police Sgt. Brandi Shelton in an email. 

On scene, emergency personnel found 33-year-old Rohail M. Khan, of Skokie, and pronounced him dead on-scene at 9:22 p.m., said Natalia Dervyanny, a spokesperson for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. 

Shelton said police are still conducting a preliminary investigation, but “there is no indication of foul play at this time.”

Dervyanny said Khan’s cause and manner of death is still “pending” as her office is waiting for the Skokie police report, a toxicology report and a review of a CT scan. 

Asim Ali, who identified himself as the owner of Skokie Auto Repair, a business that reporteldy operates in the same building as Midwest AutoHaus, said Khan was an employee of the repair shop.

“He was my best friend. He was my brother. We were diaper babies, we grew up together, we did everything together,” Ali said.

“This repair shop, it was just a me-and-him type of thing. It was only open because of him and his passion for cars, and my passion for cars came from him, and it’s just devastating.”

Ali said Khan clocked out at the end of the workday on Sept. 10 and went home, but later returned to the shop to work on a car outside the facility that did not belong to the business and was not slated for repairs there.

Khan reportedly used a scissor jack to lift the car before accessing underneath it. The jack “failed” about 30 seconds later, Ali said. The shop owner said he wasn’t sure whose car it was Kahn was working on.

“I’m probably just going to close up the business now and be done with it,” Ali said. 

An online fundraiser has collected more than $171,000 for Khan’s family. The fundraiser’s description says Khan was a “loving husband, devoted father, beloved son, cherished brother” who is survived by his wife and three children. 

It reads, in part, “Rohail was the kind of person who could light up an entire room simply by walking into it. He was the funny cousin, the dependable friend, the person everyone could turn to when they needed help. He had a heart that made people feel welcome and a personality that was impossible to forget.

“Rohail had a true passion for cars and was incredibly talented with his hands. He was intelligent, hardworking, energetic, and always willing to learn, fix, build, or help. Working with cars was something he genuinely loved, and it was a talent he carried with him throughout his life.”

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