PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A Dunlap man was ordered held on $80,000 bond on Monday in connection with a hit and run accident over the weekend that left a man severely bleeding from the head.
Christopher J. Shea, 44, appeared in Peoria County Circuit Court, charged with a single count of failing to report a personal injury accident, a felony that could send him to prison for up to seven years.
State law requires a driver to report an accident within 30 minutes.
Judge Suzanne Patton also ordered an Oct. 4 preliminary hearing date though it is likely a grand jury will hear the case before then. The judge set the high bond, noting his past failures to appear in court and his record which included a 2001 conviction in Missouri for robbery and a 2013 Peoria County conviction for armed robbery.
The incident occurred in the 1600 block of North Knoxville Avenue at about 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9. Assistant State’s Attorney Terry Muench said that Shea was allegedly driving a stolen car at the time and had just left the Firestone Complete Auto Care which is located in the same block.
Muench said Shea had gotten work done at the store and didn’t want to pay, so he drove out of the parking lot quickly just before the accident occurred. A witness told police that the victim appeared to have landed onto of the car and as Shea drove off, fell back to the roadway, striking his head.
The prosecutor said police were unable to talk to the victim at the time as he was bleeding heavily from his head and was also intubated to help with his breathing. The victim’s condition wasn’t immediately known Monday.
Patton, who handles one of Peoria County’s two traffic courts, was filling in for bonding court on Monday and noted she had Shea in earlier in the day for case that was charged as misdemeanor traffic offenses related to the accident.
She ordered the two cases be consolidated which will likely mean those lesser charges will get dropped in lieu of the felony case.
