$250K Bond For Village Clerk Charged In Fatal DUI
Updated 02/15/11 - 2:02 p.m.
MARKHAM (CBS) -- A Lynwood village clerk allegedly was driving from one bar to another and had a blood alcohol level more than one-and-a-half times the legal limit when he crashed head-on into a car, killing a Chicago mother of four two weeks ago.
Bond was set at $250,000 Tuesday morning for Roel N. Valle, 64, who is charged with aggravated DUI involving death and reckless homicide.
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WBBM's Steve Miller reports that prosecutors said in court Tuesday that Valle began drinking at the Lincolnshire Country Club in Crete on Feb. 3, then went to a nearby restaurant and bar and kept drinking.
At about 1:15 a.m. on Feb. 4, he was on his way to another bar when he drove his government-issued vehicle the wrong way on I-394. His vehicle struck a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus head-on, and the impact caused the Chrysler to overturn into the center median.
The passenger in the Chrysler, Melikah Little, was killed instantly. The driver, 27-year-old Angelina Jones of Chicago, was critically injured, police said. Little would have celebrated her 33rd birthday on Feb. 8.
After hitting the Cirrus, Valle's vehicle struck another car, driven by her husband, Manuel Little, 37, who was driving right behind her, prosecutors said.
More than five hours later, Valle's blood alcohol level was measured at .135 -- more than one and a half times the legal limit.
Angelina Jones was also charged with DUI -- a Class A misdemeanor -- and several traffic violations, state police said. She is due in court Feb. 28.
Reckless homicide while operating a vehicle carries a punishment of 2-5 years in prison, while DUI causing death is punishable by 3-14 years, according to police.
Prosecutors said Valle was still hospitalized as of Tuesday morning. They said he had a DUI suspension in 1985.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
