Author: Paul Stukel

Yorkville police are investigating a hit-and-run incident early Sunday evening that left a 23-year-old man dead and another hospitalized. According to police, at approximately 5:13pm officers were dispatched to a parking lot in the 300 block of East Veterans Parkway for a reported hit-and-run traffic crash involving pedestrians. Upon arrival, officers located two pedestrians who had been struck by a vehicle which subsequently fled the scene. Both victims were transported to an area hospital with significant injuries. One of the victims, a 23-year-old male, was subsequently pronounced deceased at the hospital. The second adult victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries. A vehicle…

A 29-year-old man was killed Friday morning when the vehicle he was a passenger in was involved in a rollover collision at the intersection of North Eola Road and McCoy Drive in Aurora. According to Aurora police, around 5:00am, police officers and firefighters responded to the intersection for a report of a rollover crash involving a blue Jeep utility and a blue Honda coupe. Arriving at the scene, they located the drivers and passengers of both vehicles with serious injuries. Paramedics transported a 29-year-old male passenger of the Honda to an area hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased. Both…

Two people were hospitalized Tuesday, including a child, after a traffic accident in Batavia involving a pickup truck and a bicycle towing a child bicycle trailer. According to police, at approximately 5:00pm, officers from the Batavia Police Department responded to a traffic collision in the 100 block of First Street involving a pickup truck and a bicycle towing a child bicycle trailer. Preliminary findings indicate that the vehicles collided at the intersection of First Street and South Water Street, with the child trailer becoming lodged near or beneath the front of the pickup truck. The child was removed from the…

A 60-year-old Batavia woman has been charged with stealing more than $1.5 million from two employers over a 8-year period beginning in 2016. On Friday, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and West Chicago Chief of Police Colin Fleury announced that the defendant has been charged two counts of Theft Exceeding $1 Million Dollars (a Class X Felony) and one count of Theft Exceeding $500,000 not Exceeding $1,00,000 (Class 1 Felony). Officers with the West Chicago Police Department arrested the defendant Thursday afternoon at her home without incident. As the charges against her are non-detainable, she was released the same…

A 33-year-old Elgin man has been sentenced to 65 years in prison for stabbling his pregnant ex-wife to death in 2024. Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced today that Judge Bianca Camargo has sentenced Pierre J. French to 65 years of imprisonment for the murder of Dreanna Booker, 33, of Elgin. In May, French pled guilty to the offense of First-Degree Murder, a Class M felony. According to prosecutors, on December 6, 2024, at around 11pm, Booker gave French a ride to his residence, where they proceeded to get into an argument about Booker being in another relationship. Booker had filed for…

An unidentified man was discover partially submerged on the bank of the Fox River in Elgin early Friday morning. According to police, at approximately 3:50am officers responded to the 200 block of North Grove Avenue for a report of a deceased subject. The Elgin Fire Department and the Kane County Coroner’s Office also responded to the area, where an adult male was recovered from the riverbank of the Fox River. The coroner’s office performed an autopsy on the body this afternoon and identified no indication of any injury or trauma to the decedent. Toxicology result remain pending, and no cause…

A 44-year-old chiropractor from Batavia has pleaded guilty to two counts of producing and disseminating sexually abusive material after an investigation discovered him videotaping patients, including children, undressing in his office. On February 20, a Kane County grand jury indicted David L. Hanson on 66 counts of producing and disseminating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and ten counts of Unauthorized Video Recording. Sixteen of the counts charged Hanson with disseminating CSAM depicting victims from his own chiropractic office. Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie L. Mosser announced yesterday that Hanson pled guilty to 1 count of Producing Child Sexual Abuse Material,…

A 58-year-old Batavia woman who, in 2023, crashed head-on into a pickup truck while intoxicated, killing both occuptants, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison. Yesterday, Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced that Judge David Kliment has sentenced Melissa J. Hill to eight years of imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections after Hill pled guilty in June to two counts of Aggravated DUI in a Crash Causing Death, Class 2 Felony. According to prosecutors, in the late hours of July 21, 2023, Hill left a nearby residence traveling southbound on Bliss Road, a two-lane roadway in Blackberry Township. In…

A 54-year-old homeless man is in custody in Indiana accused of brutally murdering his girlfriend in Elgin. The defendant, currently awaiting extradition to Illinois, has been charged with First-Degree Murder, a Class M felony, for having caused the death of 52-year-old Charity Geisel, of Elgin, who was found deceased in her home Sunday morning. Prosecutors allege that the defendant used a knife and dumbbell with the “intent to cause great bodily harm or death” to Ms. Geisel, ultimately resulting in her death. The Kane County Coroner performed an autopsy on Monday, with preliminary findings indicating that the cause of death…

Two juveniles were hospitalized and one slightly injured after being struck by a vehicle Saturday afternoon while waiting on a corner to cross the street. According to Oswego police, at approximately 12:51pm Saturday, officers were dispatched to the intersection of Route 34 and Heritage Drive for a major vehicle crash. The preliminary investigation indicates that an Infiniti Q50 was traveling eastbound on Route 34 when it entered the intersection against a red light. A Ford Explorer was already in the intersection waiting for an opportunity to complete a left turn onto Heritage Drive. After the traffic signal changed to red,…