Wilmington's Hit-And-Run Crash Driver Freed From Jail: Judge

WILMINGTON, IL — A 39-year-old Wilmington woman, Meghan Hogan, of the 400 block of North Kankakee Street, has been released after spending her weekend in the Will County Jail. Will County prosecutors say the drunk motorist crashed into a pedestrian and drove away from the wreck last Friday.

However, efforts by the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow to keep Hogan locked away from society as she awaited her trial were unsuccessful. Will County Judge Ted Jarz rejected the prosecution's petition to deny pre-trial release for Hogan, who is charged with three felonies: aggravated DUI and failure to report an accident involving personal injury and failure to stop after having an accident involving person injury.

As for the injured pedestrian, she was going in and out of consciousness, and an ambulance rushed her to St. Joe's Hospital in Joliet. She suffered two pelvic fractures, right femur fracture, right tibia and fibular fracture and displacement, right front scalp hematoma, nasal bone fracture and an open wound on her right elbow, court documents show.

On Nov. 10, Wilmington police learned that a blue 2011 Dodge Avenger going west on Baltimore struck a female pedestrian. Hogan failed to stop at the crash and kept on driving westbound through the traffic light at Baltimore and Water Street, prosecutors outlined.

A witness told police that the victim rolled over the hood and off the driver's side of Hogan's vehicle; a second witness followed Hogan to the nearby Circle K where Wilmington police found Hogan behind the wheel, the only person inside, prosecutors state.

Hogan "told officers that she knew that hit something but didn't know what it was due to poor lighting conditions and kept driving," court records reflect. Hogan also told Wilmington's officers "she was not distracted at the time of the accident."

Both of Hogan's headlights worked properly, and "she indicated she left the scene because of the uncertainty of what she hit," prosecutors noted.

Hogan told police she first stopped at AJ's Hotdogs & Gyros to call her husband and she then stopped at Circle K to meet up with her husband, according to court documents.

"At no time did defendant call 911 or any law enforcement agency to report that accident. Defendant was placed under arrest and transported to the Wilmington Police Department," according to Glasgow's prosecutors.

At the police station, Hogan "admitted having a couple of drinks earlier in the day. She consented to submit a breath sample, which resulted in a BAC of 0.11. Officers also noted that defendant's behavior was erratic in that defendant would begin to cry and then moments later start acting calmly," court documents show.

In rejecting the pretrial detention, Judge Jarz instead ordered Hogan to be placed on GPS Monitoring and on home confinement from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

"Defendant is allowed to leave residence for medical emergencies," the judge wrote.

Hogan's next appearance will be in Courtroom 405 of Judge Dave Carlson on Nov. 27.