Alcohol Played 'Major Role' in Fatal Hit & Run: Police

Vernon Howard. Credit: Will County Sheriff’s Office

Will County Sheriff’s police said a 31-year-old Lockport man spent hours drinking with a friend before intentionally lying down in the roadway, where he was struck and killed late Monday night in Rockdale.

• Lockport Man Killed in Hit and Run

A Joliet man was charged Tuesday with one count of failure to report an accident involving personal injury or death after allegedly fleeing the scene of the crash that killed Daniel Lietke.

A Will County judge set bond for Vernon Howard, 37, of the 0-100 block of Bradford Road, at $250,000.

Deputy Chief Ken Kaupas said additional charges could be filed against Howard pending the results of a blood test to determine whether he was under the influence at the time of the crash.

Kaupas said Lietke was lying on his back in the northbound lane of Larkin Avenue near Mound Road when he was hit by an Chrysler Pacifica, which fled the scene.

Police said Lietke and his friend had “consumed a great deal of alcohol” before heading out to go four-wheeling. After their truck got stuck in the mud, the pair abandoned the vehicle. They were walking along Larkin Avenue when Lietke decided to lie down in the road, Kaupas said.

“It’s obvious from witness statements and my detectives’ investigation that alcohol played a major role,” Kaupas said.

Just moments before the fatal hit and run, another driver heading north on Larkin narrowly missed hitting Lietke, police said. That driver slowed down and stopped near the scene of the accident, and witnessed the incident, according to Kaupas.

Kaupas said after leaving the scene of the accident, Howard and his passenger stopped and picked up two additional people.

Police determined that those passengers were not in the vehicle at the time of the crash, and they were released without charges.

The front-seat passenger, 26-year-old Mark Pierce of the 0-100 block of Bradford, was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear on unrelated traffic charges, Kaupas said.

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