Maurice Pettigrew, 42, of Evanston.

A 42-year-old man has been arrested after he allegedly struck a pedestrian, who was improperly crossing the street, with his car and fled the scene on New Year’s Day, Waukegan police said.

Maurice Pettigrew, 42, of Evanston, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death and driving without a valid driver’s license.

The Waukegan Police Department responded at 8:20 p.m. Tuesday to the KFC restaurant, 1400 North Lewis Avenue in Waukegan, for a report of a pedestrian struck by a car in front of the business on Lewis Avenue.

A 51-year-old Waukegan woman, who has not yet been publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene by Waukegan Fire Department paramedics.

Waukegan Chief of Police Wayne Walles said that Pettigrew was driving his 2008 Chrysler Town and Country minivan on Lewis Avenue when he allegedly struck the woman, who was improperly crossing the street.

[Suggested Article]  Boy found shot inside apartment complex on border of Long Grove, Arlington Heights

“Currently, Traffic Investigators believe that the victim was improperly crossing Lewis Avenue, in the middle of the block, when she was struck,” Walles said. Numerous witnesses told police the van fled northbound on Lewis Avenue and a license plate was provided by one of the witnesses.

Officers located Pettigrew and his minivan nearby at Williamsburg Drive and Georgetown Lane within minutes of the crash.

Pettigrew was arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail where he remains held on a $100,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court again on January 4.