Man Charged with DUI in Squad Car Crash Misses Court Date

A 25-year-old Yorkville man might have tried to evade prosecutors too.

Jose de Jesus Jimenez, of the 2000 block of Village View Drive, did not appear for a hearing Thursday, when prosecutors had planned to ask for an increase in his bail in light of new felony charges they filed against him. When Jimenez didn’t show, the judge issued an arrest warrant.

Jimenez was charged with felony fleeing or attempting to elude police and misdemeanor driving under the influence after police said he refused to stop for Yorkville police along Game Farm Road on Oct. 23. During the pursuit, Jimenez drove 72 mph south on Route 47 and rear-ended a Yorkville squad car within a few blocks of his home, police said.

Prosecutors said in court documents that they did not discover Jimenez's driving history until after a judge set his bail amount at $10,000. Jimenez posted the required $1,000 bond Oct. 28.

Prosecutors filed three new felony charges Oct. 31 after learning Jimenez had driven under the influence two times and driven while his license was suspended or revoked five times in the past, according to court records. Jimenez's driver’s license was suspended during the Oct. 23 incident, prosecutors said in court documents.

The new charges filed last week are two counts of aggravated driving under the influence, which are class 2 felonies and more serious than the original charges, and driving on a revoked driver's license, a class 4 felony. The class 2 felonies typically are punishable by as many as seven years in prison.

A judge also set a date in December on whether Jimenez forfeited his $1,000 bond.