The driver charged in a fatal DUI crash in Aurora previously was convicted of a drunken-driving crash in the city, according to court records.
Stephanie Figueroa, 27, of Streator, is free on bond. She is charged with reckless homicide on allegations she was intoxicated when she lost control of her Volkswagen Jetta Feb. 7, causing the car to collide with a house in the 500 block of North Farnsworth Avenue and come to rest on its roof. Her passenger, 33-year-old Obed Cruz-Hernandez, of Aurora, died after being ejected from the car, authorities said.
Figueroa ran away from the scene but was apprehended by Aurora police officers who witnessed the crash, police said. She was initially ticketed with two counts of misdemeanor driving under the influence and released after posting bond.
Kane County prosecutors upgraded the charges to include reckless homicide and aggravated DUI late last week. Figueroa was arrested at her home Feb. 12 and was released after posting $4,000 bail at the Aurora Police Department, records state. She is scheduled to appear in court March 16.
Figueroa’s license was valid at the time of the most recent crash, according to the Illinois secretary of state’s office, but it has since been suspended. A previous suspension followed her 2012 drunken driving arrest after a crash on Galena Boulevard in Aurora in which she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.169. The legal limit in Illinois is 0.08.
Court records indicate Figueroa, then 22, crashed her Isuzu Trooper while driving with three passengers. Two of the occupants left after the accident, but a third passenger was there when police arrived. An officer’s report indicates Figueroa, among other things, failed field-sobriety tests and gave police an incorrect birth date.
Figueroa pleaded guilty to DUI a month later, but the case remained active because of a string of allegations that she violated her court supervision. A judge Jan. 29 closed the case by ordering Figueroa’s unpaid fines and costs to be collected, documents show.
She also has convictions from 2012 on marijuana and cocaine possession charges, for which she was sentenced to 30 months of probation.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News