Highwood Man Indicted After Deerfield Hit-And-Run-And-Hit: Police

DEERFIELD, IL — An unlicensed Highwood man with a history of drunken driving arrests who struck a SUV and fled before crashing into a street sign was indicted Wednesday on five felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence and with a revoked license, records show.

Angel Palmerin, 28, was arrested around 3:15 p.m. on Aug. 2 by Deerfield police who got a call of a hit-and-run crash on Waukegan Road just north of Deerfield Road, police said.

A 42-year-old Arlington Heights man told police a black Chevrolet Equinox had just struck his Porche SUV and driven away north on Waukegan Road, according to police reports. He gave officers a partial license plate of the car.

As officers searched for the hit-and-run driver, the driver of the Porsche told dispatchers he followed the Equinox, catching up to it about a mile north where it had crashed, police said. Officers arrived to find a Chevy with matching plates had just struck the street sign at the corner of Waukegan Road and Chapel Court, knocking it over and onto a parked Honda. The Honda's owner, a 52-year-old Deerfield man, told police he saw Palmerin drive off the road and into the sign.

Palmerin appeared drunk, smelled of alcohol and was bleeding, so officers called a Deerfield Fire Department ambulance to check on him, according to police reports. He was taken to Highland Park Hospital for a few hours and placed under arrest on suspicion of drunk driving. Police collected blood and urine samples and sent them away to the crime lab for testing.

Police learned Palmerin had three prior DUI arrests and a revoked license, they reported. Prosecutors approved a felony driving under the influence charges. Before police took him to bond court, officers notified him of his right to speak with the Mexican consulate but he declined. On Aug. 3, a judge ordered him held in lieu of the $7,500 cash portion of his bond.

Lake County court records show he pleaded guilty in July 2013 to felony drunk driving with a revoked license and was sentenced to one year in the Illinois Department of Corrections following an arrest by Highland Park police.

On Aug. 21, a grand jury returned an indictment on four counts of aggravated driving under the influence and one count of driving with a revoked license for the second or subsequent time, according to court records. Police also Palmerin was also issued citations for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and driving off the roadway.

As of Friday, Palmerin remained detained at Lake County Jail. He is due back in court in Waukegan on Wednesday, when he will have the opportunity to enter a plea.