Joliet Driver Had 6 Beers, 8 Shots, Topped 140 MPH On I-55 Before Crash Killed WESCOM Dispatcher: Police

JOLIET, IL — Timothy Waldvogel, a 36-year-old Joliet motorist with a long history of excessive speeding and a prior drunken driving conviction from 2023, must be kept in Will County's Jail under the SAFE-T-Act because he was driving drunk and traveling 140 mph when he killed an off-duty WESCOM dispatcher at 3:14 a.m. during the I-55 wreck, the Will County State's Attorney's Office has argued.

Waldvogel was just taken into custody on Thursday morning in connection with last week's indictment on two counts of reckless homicide and two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol. The Joliet motorist is being charged in connection with the early morning April 5 traffic fatality along I-55 near Channahon that ended the life of 26-year-old WESCOM 911 dispatcher Melissa Prosser.

According to the petition to deny Waldvogel any pretrial release, at 3:14 a.m. on April 5, Illinois State Police responded to the crash involving two vehicles on southbound I-55. Waldvogel was driving a purple 2023 Dodge Challenger and Prosser, the WESCOM dispatcher, was driving the second vehicle. She had just got off work at 3 a.m.

Prosser's vehicle had rolled over and was found at the on-ramp for Bluff Road at I-55. She was ejected and off-duty paramedics stopped to render aid upon seeing the crash. She was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

At the scene, Illinois State Police spoke with Waldvogel and his passenger, Joshua Carey, and Waldvogel admitted being the driver.

"He claimed that the victim's car was stopped on the highway with no lights on, just prior to him striking the vehicle," prosecutors outlined. "When asked if he had been drinking, he mumbled something about an attorney."

At the hospital, Waldvogel "denied any alcohol consumption" and refused to submit to any field sobriety blood or urine testing, court files show. State police obtained a search warrant for Waldvogel's blood and urine at 10;45 a.m. some 7.5 hours after the fatal crash, and he registered 0.102, the court files indicated.

Illinois State Police determined Waldvogel's Dodge Challenger struck the rear of Prosser's vehicle along I-55 and the impact pushed Prosser's car into the ditch where it overturned and Prosser was ejected on to the on-ramp.

Prosecutors noted that the Illinois State Police conducted a significant investigation into the events leading up to Waldvogel's crash. They interviewed the employees at Channahon's Big Basin Bar and obtained video surveillance footage showing Waldvogel consumed five beers and seven shots of hard liquor between 10:11 p.m. and 1:35 a.m. At that point, the bar closed, so Waldvogel and his passenger left and went to Anthony's Bar in Joliet where they were denied entry around 2 a.m., court documents show.

Cell phone data revealed Waldvogel then went to On The Rocks Bar in Joliet on Essington Road from 2:08 a.m. and 3:05 a.m. "While video is no longer available, both female bartenders recalled defendant based on his rude behavior," prosecutors pointed out. "They recalled him ordering one beer and one shot. This bar closed at 3 a.m. and he would have left at that time."

Crash Reconstruction

Prosecutors noted that the Illinois State Police determined that Prosser, the victim, was driving at 66 mph in the five-seconds before the crash and she applied her brakes 0.5 seconds before being struck and killed. As for Waldvogel, he was driving at 140 mph during the five seconds before the crash and 138 mph at the time of impact, court files show.

"At no point was his brake applied. The posted speed limit is 65 mph," prosecutors stated.

Court records show that Waldvogel, who comes from the 500 block of Joliet's Meadow Wood Drive, has hired private defense lawyer Terrence Wallace of Lockport.

Prosecutors indicated that "this is not the first time defendant has driven a vehicle and been under the influence. Defendant has a prior driving under the influence court supervision (from 2023) in Channahon and defendant was driving the same purple Dodge Challenger. Defendant blew a 0.168 in that case ... that offense was committed around 5:02 a.m. ... Defendant has four prior dispositions for speeding including ... a speeding 35-plus over the limit and the ticket indicated 90 mph in a 40-mph zone, this was the same purple Dodge Challenger ... Defendant has not conformed his behavior following prior speeding and DUI sentences and in this case defendant was speeding and DUI."