A Lake County Grand Jury has indicted a Volo woman with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death after she allegedly ran over and killed a pedestrian lying injured in a Gurnee roadway.
Hunter Saikin, 20, is facing up to 15 years in prison on Class 1 Felony charges of Leaving the Scene of a Motor Vehicle Crash Involving Death or Personal Injury following the grand jury indictment on August 28. The charge is also probationable.
Saikin appeared in Lake County First Appearance court in August, but prosecutors from the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office elected to not file the paperwork necessary to detain her while awaiting trial.
Saikin was ordered to not leave the state of Illinois without permission and to refrain from consumption of alcohol, cannabis, or any illegal substances by a Lake County Judge during the first appearance court hearing.
Teresa Williams, 56, of Round Lake Beach, died as a result of blunt force injuries she sustained from the crash at the corner of Hunt Club Road and Washington Street on Nov. 6, authorities said.
The Gurnee Police Department and Gurnee Fire Department responded to Hunt Club Road and Washington Street for a vehicle crash involving a pedestrian at about 9 p.m. on that date.
Authorities said Williams was walking northbound in the left lane of Hunt Club Road approximately 100 feet north of the crosswalk along Washington Street while wearing all-black clothing when she was hit by a Buick Encore driven by a 24-year-old Kenosha, Wisconsin man.
The Buick struck Williams, resulting in the woman being thrown into the right lane of northbound Hunt Club Road, authorities said.
Moments later, a Honda Civic driven by Saikin was traveling northbound on Hunt Club Road and drove around the stopped Buick, striking Williams while she was lying in the roadway.
Williams was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville with critical injuries. She was pronounced dead in the emergency room, authorities said.
No other injuries were reported from the crash, authorities said.
Investigators with the Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) responded to the scene and conducted a crash investigation, Gurnee Police officials said.
The indictment alleges Saikin failed to remain at the scene of the crash despite knowing an accident with another person had occurred.
“Based on their investigation, although Hunter returned to the scene of the crash and cooperated with the investigation, she came back after the time period allotted by law to report the crash,” Gurnee Police Spokesperson Shawn Gaylor said. “It looks like she left the scene after the initial crash and returned about an hour later and cooperated with the investigation.”
Hunt Club Road was shut down in both directions during the investigation.
Saikin is due back in court on Oct. 31 for arraignment.