A Mundelein woman who fatally struck a Deerfield school board member with a car and then left the scene of the crash has been sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Melanie A. Hass, 37, of Mundelein, was sentenced to spend the next five years in the Department of Corrections on a single charge of failure to report an accident resulting in death following a sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon.
A Class 3 Felony charge of reckless homicide and a Class 4 Felony charge of causing a crash resulting in injury or death have been dismissed, court records show.
The sentencing on Wednesday stems from a hit-and-run crash that occurred around 12:37 p.m. on June 2, 2023, at Deerfield Road and Piccadilly Road.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said first responders found Maureen Wener, 49, of Deerfield, lying in the eastbound curb lane of Deerfield Road with her bicycle nearby.
Wener had suffered serious injuries and her bicycle frame was broken in half.
Several bystanders stopped to aid the victim but none of them witnessed what happened, Dillon said.
Wener was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville by ambulance and she was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.
The Lake County Major Crash Assistance Team (MCAT) and the Highland Park Police Department began investigating and recovered surveillance video showing Wener riding her bicycle westbound on the sidewalk along eastbound Deerfield Road, Dillon said.
Over eight hours after the incident, Hass went to the Highland Park Police Department and talked with investigators, Dillon said.
She told investigators she was driving around on her lunch break in her 2020 Jeep Wrangler.
Hass had just left the BP gas station and traveled westbound on Deerfield Road before realizing she needed to go eastbound on Deerfield Road.
Dillon said Hass told investigators she turned left onto Piccadilly Road and then did a three-point turn before proceeding to the stop sign.
She said she looked both ways multiple times and saw it was clear to proceed before driving onto Deerfield Road, at which time she bumped her tire off the curb, Dillon said.
Investigators learned from Hass’ co-worker that Hass had been vomiting in the bathroom before the crash and left early from work.
A crime lab forensics scientist confirmed marks left on Wener’s bicycle were made from Hass’ Jeep, Dillon said.
GPS data showed Hass did not come to a complete stop at the stop sign at Deerfield Road and Piccadilly Road, Dillon said.
The data also showed Hass rapidly accelerated to 56 mph in a 30 mph zone as she fled the scene.
An autopsy showed Wener died from her numerous injuries that were the result of a bicycle and vehicle crash, Dillon said.
Wener was the secretary of the Deerfield Public Schools District 109 Board of Education.
The initial charges were announced in early December, almost six months after the incident.
A wrongful death lawsuit remains pending against Hass and was filed on behalf of the victim’s husband, Paul Rundell.
The suit said Hass was driving too fast for conditions, not paying attention to the roadway while distracted, and did not keep a proper lookout for vehicles and pedestrians while making a U-turn.
Following the sentencing hearing, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said his office will continue to support Wener’s family.
“The prison sentence sends the correct message that people must remain on the scene after traffic crashes. This office will seek incarceration sentences for those who criminally abandon their moral responsibility to help others after motor vehicle crashes,” Rinehart said.
“We want to thank the Highland Park Police Department, the Major Crash Assistance Team, and the family for their work in making sure that this offender was held responsible,” Rinehart added.