Man who claimed to be witness arrested in fatal hit-and-run crash

Steven Price approached McHenry County Sheriff's deputies last week, telling them he saw a hit-and-run crash that took the life of a 25-year-old bicyclist near Harvard and providing details about the vehicle that caused it.

On Thursday, sheriff's police determined Price actually was much more than a witness.

Deputies arrested Price, 20, of Harvard, on charges of leaving the scene of fatal accident and obstructing justice that allege he was behind the wheel of a pickup truck that collided with and killed Christopher Schaaf March 18 as he was pedalling through an intersection in northwestern McHenry County.

The arrest ends a weeklong investigation that nearly was led astray when Price and a friend arrived at the crash scene after the accident and, according to sheriff's police, fed deputies false information about the vehicle that struck Schaaf.

"The accident went down the way they said it did, but the only problem is that they were involved in it, not just witnesses," Sheriff Keith Nygren said.

Nygren said investigators from his office's Traffic Unit inspected Price's vehicle after receiving several tips about his possible involvement in the crash and found damage consistent with the collision. After confronting him with the information Thursday, Nygren said, Price made incriminating statements and was arrested.

Price, who could face one to three years in prison if convicted of the felony charges, is free after posting $1,500 bond Friday morning. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.