A man has been accused of causing a car accident that injured a pedestrian, according to local sources. The Illinois man faces a felony charge in the alleged hit-and-run that injured a 39-year-old man in the early morning of July 16. The man was set to appear for the first time in court on July 17.
According to the arrest record, around 12:05 a.m. on the morning in question, the man is said to have struck a pedestrian on a local roadway on the Northwest Side of Chicago, causing the pedestrian serious injury. The specifics of the accident were not made clear in this report. However, it has been confirmed that police pursued the vehicle and arrested its driver, who now stands accused of the crime.
In addition to the two felony counts of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, the man also faces one count of leaving the scene and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. It is not clear why the police have charged him with the final two counts, as no record of a search was mentioned in the report, nor were the alleged substances the man is said to have possessed. It is also unclear whether the man is currently in custody or free ahead of further court proceedings.
A felony charge of aggravated assault will require Illinois prosecutors to prove each element of the charge by relevant evidence to support the criminal accusations. The defense will surely scrutinize the drug charges to determine whether the man`s rights were respected during what may have been a search of his vehicle. It is possible that motions to exclude specific items of evidence at trial may be forthcoming if the evidence suggests that due process was not followed in this case.
Source: suntimes.com, “Man charged in Logan Square hit-and-run accident”, , July 17, 2014