3 years for DUI driver who crashed into Wheaton house
A Downers Grove woman who was drunk when she drove into a Wheaton family’s living room has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Allison Smolinski, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated driving under the influence and was sentenced by DuPage County Judge George Bakalis, according to court records.
Prosecutors said Smolinski was involved in at least three separate traffic accidents in less than an hour the afternoon of Jan. 10. The last crash happened when her 1997 Nissan Pathfinder hit a tree and then tore into a house at Farnham Road and Huntleigh Court in Wheaton.
Several residents of the home were watching TV in another room at the time and weren’t injured. Smolinski was hospitalized with a neck injury, and a 27-year-old passenger sustained a 3- to 4-inch gash to his head.
Police said Smolinski crashed into the house after striking another car on I-290 and yet another on Blanchard Street in Wheaton. Her driving also may have factored into a rollover crash on I-355, where drivers reported a motorist “swerving all over the road,” authorities said at the time.
By law, Smolinski must serve at least 85 percent of her prison term. With credit for time served in the county lockup since January, she could be eligible for parole in less than two years.