Intoxicated Man Flees Crash Scene, Leaves Girlfriend Behind: Police

By Sam Borcia, the Lake & McHenry County Scanner

Police say a Woodstock man, who was highly intoxicated, was taken into custody after he crashed his car and abandoned his girlfriend as he fled the scene in Harvard.

The Harvard Police Department responded around 8:56 p.m. May 29 to the 1800 block of Wildflower Lane for a report of a suspicious person.

Harvard Deputy Police Chief Tyson Bauman said officers located a 45-year-old Woodstock woman in the area.

The woman was distraught and lost, Bauman said. She told police that she was involved in a car crash and her boyfriend fled the area on foot.

Officers discovered a 2006 Honda Civic in the ditch at the intersection of Hollyhock Lane and Lilac Lane in Harvard.

Officers located the woman’s boyfriend, identified as Keith P. Zoellick, who was the driver of the Honda.

Zoellick, 44, of the 100 block of Hoy Avenue in Woodstock, was arrested and transported to the hospital due to a high level of intoxication, Bauman said.

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In a law enforcement report filed in court, the arresting officer said Zoellick was so intoxicated he could not answer simple questions and had been found in a field.

Zoellick was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving too fast for conditions, driving while license revoked, operating an uninsured vehicle, failure to report an accident to a police authority, improper display registration and operating a vehicle in an unsafe condition.

Police issued the man a notice to appear and released him at the hospital. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 14.

Lake and McHenry County Scanner is a local breaking news website covering issues that matter such as shootings, stabbings, house fires, kidnappings, car accidents, and more around Lake County and McHenry County.