Maurice Pettigrew, 42, of Evanston.

Felicita Alcaide, 51, of Waukegan, was killed on New Year’s Day by a hit-and-run driver after she tried crossing the street in Waukegan, authorities 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.

Alcaide 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 Alcaide, who was improperly crossing the street.

“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.

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Officers located Pettigrew and his minivan nearby at Williamsburg Drive and Georgetown Lane within minutes of the crash. An autopsy performed on Alcaide on Wednesday confirmed she died from blunt force trauma consistent with being struck by a vehicle.

Toxicology testing is pending on both Alcaide and Pettigrew, the Lake County Coroner’s Office and the Waukegan Police Department said.

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.