Evanston Man Charged With Fatal Hit-And-Run In Waukegan

WAUKEGAN, IL — Police said an Evanston man fled the scene after fatally striking a woman on New Year's Day as she crossed the street in Waukegan. Officers were dispatched around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday to the 1400 block of North Lewis Avenue after receiving reports that a vehicle had just hit a pedestrian, according to police.

Investigators believe a minivan struck the woman as she crossed Lewis Avenue outside of a crosswalk in the middle of the block. The minivan left the scene heading north, witnesses told police. After witnesses gave officers the minivan's license plate, police found a matching silver 2008 Chrysler minivan in the area of Williamsburg Drive and Georgetown Lane within minutes of the crash and arrested its driver, according to Cmdr. Joe Florip.

Maurice Pettigrew, 42, of Evanston, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing injury or death and driving without a valid driver's license, according to Waukegan police and the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Police said the pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene. Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper identified the woman as 51-year-old Felicita Alcaide, of Waukegan. Preliminary results of an autopsy indicated she died from being struck by a vehicle, he said. The results of toxicology tests of both Pettigrew and Alcaide remain pending, according to police and the coroner's office.

A hit-and-run traffic crash that causes death is a class 1 felony, carrying a possible prison sentence of 4 to 15 years. Pettigrew was the second person charged with a felony in Lake County in 2019, following the Jan. 1 arrest of David Garcia-Barrera on charges of domestic battery and aggravated battery to a disabled or pregnant person, according to court records.

Pettigrew was ordered held at Lake County Jail Wednesday in lieu of a $10,000 cash portion of his bond. He is due back in court Jan. 4 for a bond review hearing.