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Police: St. Charles woman hit boyfriend with SUV, fled

A 37-year-old St. Charles woman has been charged with hitting her boyfriend with an SUV during an argument and then leaving the scene.

Jeanelle M. Joeckel, of the 500 block of South 12th Street, faces felony charges of failure to report an accident with injuries, fleeing the scene of an accident, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and misdemeanor domestic battery, according to Kane County court records.

St. Charles Deputy Police Chief David Kintz said the episode began the night of Feb. 18 when Joeckel and her boyfriend, 40, were at a bar in North Aurora. The boyfriend was driving Joeckel's 2007 Nissan Murano back to St. Charles when the two began to argue and she punched him in the forehead, Kintz said.

After they got back to Joeckel's house, she tried to drive off but the boyfriend tried to stop her, Kintz said. Court records show Joeckel had two previous DUI arrests from September 2004 and January 2006.

Kintz said the man stood in front of Joeckel's SUV with his hands on the hood, but she didn't stop. "She looks right at him, he hears the engine get louder and she knocks him down," Kintz said. "He fell off to the side of the car. The car didn't run him over, it threw him on to the hood and knocked him down."

The next morning, the man woke up sore and called police, Kintz said. The man was not seriously injured. An arrest warrant was issued Feb. 24; authorities have been in contact with an attorney representing Joeckel.

Joeckel's bail has been set at $50,000.

According to court records, Joeckel received probation after her September 2004 DUI arrest where she struck a tree in St. Charles, failed field sobriety tests and admitted she was drunk. In the Jan. 10, 2006, case, she was arrested by Geneva police after her passenger wheels hit a curb and she was driving at 11:56 p.m. without headlights.

If convicted of failing to report the crash and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, Joeckel faces a punishment ranging from probation to up to 12 years in prison.

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