Northbrook Woman Charged In Hit-And-Run Of Deerfield Boy

DEERFIELD, IL — A Northbrook woman who police said drove away last week after striking a 12-year-old boy with special needs turned herself in Friday at the Deerfield Police Department, according to authorities.

Stacy Shapiro, 46, of Northbrook, has been charged with a single felony count in connection with the Feb. 7 hit-and-run incident on Deerfield Road at Beverly Place, according to police and prosecutors.

That evening, Chase Thompson, a Caruso Middle School sixth-grader with autism, ran out of his home without shoes or a coat and into the street nearby, according to his family.

Thompson, who is non-verbal, suffered severe injuries and was found unconscious in the street by a neighbor. He remained hospitalized Friday at Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago.

"He managed to get out of a couple doors at our house that we were unaware that he had figured out how to get out of, he ran right into Deerfield Road," his father, Thad Thompson, told reporters Monday.

According to an online fundraiser set up to help his family with expenses, Chase is likely to need reconstructive surgeries and a lengthy period of hospitalization. About $45,000 had been raised from nearly 800 donors as of Friday afternoon.

On Wednesday, police said they had located the car involved in the collision and questioned its owner, later identified as Shapiro. She was released after being interviewed by police.

On Friday, the Lake County State's Attorney's Office approved a charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury, a class 2 felony punishable by a maximum of seven years in prison, according to police and prosecutors.

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A judge approved an arrest warrant, and Shapiro arranged to surrender at the station with the $25,000 cash portion of her bond, authorities said. Her lawyer could not be immediately identified from court records.

Because she turned herself in directly to Deerfield police, Shapiro does not have to abide by any special conditions of bail or pre-trial monitoring. She is due in bond court on Feb. 18 for her first appearance before a judge in Waukegan.