A judge has denied prosecutors’ request and released a woman who was accused of intentionally hitting an IDOT construction worker with her car, leaving him hospitalized, in Marengo last week.
The Marengo Fire and Rescue Districts and Marengo Police Department responded around 11:05 a.m. on July 10 to West Grant Highway and Park Drive for a pedestrian struck by a vehicle.
Marengo Fire and Rescue Districts Communication Specialist Alex Vucha said paramedics arrived within minutes and found a single-vehicle crash involving a construction worker near the intersection.
The adult male victim, identified as an Illinois Department of Transportation worker, was lying on the pavement injured, Vucha said.
A LifeNet medical helicopter was initially placed on standby but was canceled.
The worker was transported by ambulance to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, a Level 1 trauma center, with moderate, non-life-threatening injuries.
A bystander told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that the worker was a flagger in the work zone. He could not stand up after the collision.
Vucha said the driver of the vehicle, an adult female, was uninjured.
Court records show the woman was identified as Starlet A. Stoffel, 30, of Shannon.
Stoffel was transported to Northwestern Medicine Hospital in Woodstock for a psychological evaluation.
Marengo Police Department Sgt. Andrew Kjellgren said officers were informed that it appeared the driver of the vehicle intentionally struck the worker as he was controlling traffic for road work being performed in the area.
Grant Highway, also known as Route 20, was closed in both directions for 30 minutes, Vucha said.
Stoffel was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery in a public place, reckless driving, driving without a valid license, entering a work zone while speeding causing injury and operating an uninsured vehicle.
Stoffel is accused of “knowingly without legal justification” making physical contact with the victim by driving her 2017 Chevrolet sedan into him, according to a criminal complaint.
An arrest warrant was issued for her, court records show. She was taken into custody, presumably upon her medical release, on Thursday.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain Stoffel pending trial, calling her a real and present threat to the community.
McHenry County Judge Carl Metz denied the petition and released Stoffel during an Initial Appearance Court hearing Friday.
Prosecutors asked the court to order the woman to be placed on home confinement with electronic monitoring.
They also asked that she be ordered not to operate a vehicle, not leave the state and obtain an anger management evaluation.
Metz noted Stoffel’s mental health issues and a prior criminal conviction out of Stephenson County on her record in his reasoning for granting the requested pre-trial release conditions.