Felony charges in Arlington Hts. crash
A judge set bail at $100,000 Wednesday for a Rolling Meadows woman who police say used her SUV to ram her estranged husband's vehicle off the road and into a tree, seriously injuring his female passenger.
Guadalupe Romero, 27, faces felony charges of aggravated battery, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and three counts of endangering a child stemming from the crash at about 8 p.m. Sunday evening in the 1200 block of South Old Wilke Road in Arlington Heights.
Authorities said Romero was driving a 2004 Jeep Liberty when she spotted her husband, Alfonso Fierro, driving with another woman. She repeatedly rammed his 2002 Ford Explorer from behind and then struck the vehicle's left quarter panel, sending it off the road and into a tree, said police Sgt. Mike Hernandez.
Romero's children — ages 2, 5 and 8 — were riding in the Jeep at the time. The children, who were treated and released that night at Northwest Community Hospital, are currently under the care of an uncle, Hernandez said.
A spokeswoman from the Cook County State's Attorney's Office said Romero previously was on court supervision for endangering a child. Fierro, 35, was charged with a misdemeanor DUI after the crash, the spokeswoman said.
A 34-year-old Rolling Meadows woman, had to be extracted from Fiero's vehicle after the crash, as the passenger side on which she was sitting struck the tree. She was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, and was discharged Wednesday, said hospital spokeswoman Robyn Ali. If convicted of the Class 3 felonies, Romero could be sentenced to a maximum two to five years in prison. Probation is also possible.
She next appears in court on July 7.