Plainfield Street Racer Gets Prison Sentence In Fatality

JOLIET, IL - A young man from Plainfield found out Monday that he will be going away to prison for his role in a drag racing incident on Eola Road that killed an innocent motorist, 49-year-old Chuck Siebel of Aurora. Defendant Jeffrey Bledsoe, now 22, was sentenced to 30 months at the Illinois Department of Corrections by Will County Judge Daniel Kennedy. Bledsoe was represented by Jeff Tomczak of the Tomczak Law Group. The criminal defense lawyer had sought probation for his client.

The Will County street racing fatality occurred around 10:15 p.m. Dec. 4, 2015. That night, Bledsoe and a 16-year-old teenager from Aurora were speeding between 110 and 120 mph on Eola Road. According to Patch news archives, the Aurora teenager was driving a 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix.

As Siebel attempted to turn northbound onto Eola Road from Shenandoah, he got hit by the 16-year-old's 2011 Dodge Charger that was traveling at least 110 mph southbound on Eola. Bledsoe was just south of the other two vehicles at the time of the crash; he hit the center median on Eola and ended up in the northbound lanes.

After the deadly crash, Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow issued a press release in March 2016 revealing that Bledsoe's conduct while driving caused the crash that resulted in Siebel's death and also injured Siebel's 15-year-old daughter.

GOFUNDME For Chuck Siebel

Bledsoe was 20 years old at the time of the fatality.

"Each count of reckless homicide alleges specific acts of reckless conduct – for example, engaging in street racing, various speeding allegations, and failing to drive in a single lane – that caused another vehicle to crash into Mr. Siebel's Toyota Highlander," Glasgow said in a release.

Under a recent plea bargain, several counts of reckless homicide were dismissed against Bledsoe. The Plainfield defendant pleaded guilty to the felony crime of aggravated street racing, a Class 4 felony.

Mugshot of Jeffrey Bledsoe via Will County Sheriff's Department

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the victim. Patch apologizes for the error.