IDOT worker injured in Marengo; woman charged

By Bill Dwyer For Chronicle Media

A Shannon, Ill. woman has been charged with two felonies after allegedly striking an IDOT road repair worker with her car in Marengo.

Starlet Stoffel, 30, was driving on U.S. 20 (West Grant Highway) at Park Drive in Marengo at 11 a.m. July 10 when she struck an Illinois Department of Transportation flagman who was controlling traffic at a road repair site, Marengo police said

Responding police, fire and rescue personnel reportedly found the construction worker lying on the ground. Route 20 was closed for 30 minutes as police and paramedics worked at the scene.

A Marengo ambulance transported the construction worker to OSF St. Anthony Medical Center in Rockford, a level 1 trauma center, “with what was believed to be moderate, nonlife-threatening injuries,” according to Marengo police.

After an investigation, Stoffel was transported to Northwestern Medicine Woodstock Hospital for a psychological evaluation, police said. The following day, July 11, Stoffel, a resident of the 200 block of Linn Street, was charged with aggravated battery in a public place and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, both Class 3 felonies, according to McHenry County court records. An arrest warrant was also issued for her.

Chronicle Media has not yet been able to confirm further details about Stoffel. She has a court appearance scheduled before McHenry County Circuit Court Judge Mark Gerhardt on Aug. 6. Under Illinois law, the penalty upon conviction for hitting an IDOT employee is a fine of up to $25,000 and up to 14 years in prison.