Woman Who Ran Over Friend Charged With Cashing Fake $10K Check

COAL CITY, IL — A Romeoville woman who previously pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI after running over and seriously injuring her friend was indicted by a Grundy County grand jury this week. Rose Marta, 32, of the 400 block of Camden Avenue, is accused of stealing more than $10,000 by cashing a fictitious check at a bank in Coal City. She is charged with felony theft of $10,000 to $100,000.

The complaint accuses Marta of cashing the phony a $10,146 check at Midland States Bank in Coal City on Aug. 19, WCSJ FM reported. She is currently in custody in Will County on unrelated charges.

Will County jail records show she was arrested Nov. 7 by Joliet police in connection with the 2016 aggravated DUI case. That case stemmed from a November 2015 incident in which Marta was accused of running over a 27-year-old woman while fleeing a home in Joliet. Initially, Marta was charged with misdemeanor DUI, but felony aggravated DUI charges were filed against her in June 2016.

In 2015, Marta told Patch she was sober when she ran over her friend, but did admit to smoking marijuana a day earlier. "I don't even drink," she said, questioning the validity of the original DUI charge. "Just because I smoked the day before? I'm not going to stay high all day long."

The injured woman was working as a caretaker for a 59-year-old Joliet man, who came home to find the caretaker and two strangers — Marta and a man — there, according to police.

Police said the homeowner called his son for help, and Marta and the man tried to take off in a vehicle. Marta then crashed into a parked vehicle before driving through a yard and hitting her friend, who was taken to Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet in critical condition, according to police.

Marta told Patch in 2015 that she awoke to find the homeowner pointing an assault rifle at her and was running for her life when she accidentally hit her friend.

Marta pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated DUI in August 2016 and was sentenced to 48 days in jail. She was also ordered to undergo alcoholism treatment. Since then, Will County has issued several warrants for her arrest for failing to appear in court for the case, with the most recent warrant issued Oct. 24, according to court records.

Marta's bond was set at $50,000, and she remained in Will County custody as of late Friday, according to jail records.

Photo: Marta's Nov. 7 Will County booking photo/Will County Sheriff's Office

Police report information is provided by local police departments. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.