Illinois man sentenced to 18 years after fleeing hit-and-run

URBANA, Ill. (AP) - A Champaign man who drove into a crowd of people and fled the scene has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Derek Overton was sentenced Thursday for the Sept. 24, 2019 incident that left one man paralyzed. Overton, who has already served 253 days in count jail, said he drove into the crowd of people to escape from getting jumped, The News-Gazette reported.

Overton's offense is a Class 2 felony, but he faces Class X penalties between six and 30 years in prison due to prior convictions for residential burglary, aggravated battery and attempted residential burglary.

Assistant State's Attorney Christopher McCallum, who negotiated the plea agreement with Assistant Public Defender Matt Ham, said several people were in the parking lot during the night of the incident when several fights broke out. He noted that it reportedly involved a quarrel over the car Overton was driving, which he was keeping for another man serving a prison term.

McCallum said the fights had already ended when Overton backed into a crowd, hitting people, then put the car in drive and ran over a sidewalk where more people were standing before taking off.

One of the people he hit sustained a spinal injury that left him confined to a wheelchair. Another sustained a broken foot and a broken arm.

Jason Dudley, the man who was left paralyzed from the waist down, said he spent more than three months in Carle Foundation Hospital before being released in mid-January and has been in constant pain daily.

'œEvery day is a struggle,'ť said Dudley, a 32-year-old father of six. 'œMe and the kids have to deal with it, too.'ť

Overton was on the run until mid-December, when U.S. marshals found him in Champaign. He said he plans to seek drug treatment in prison.