Geneva man pleads guilty in fatal DUI crash
A 20-year-old Geneva man pleaded guilty Thursday into a 2017 fatal DUI case, the Kane County state's attorney's office said.
Around 2:20 a.m. Oct. 6, 2017, Raphael P. Peruzza, of the 2000 block of Eldorado Drive, had been drinking before he got behind the wheel of a black Jeep Cherokee with his friend Nicholas Hansen, 19, of Geneva in the passenger's seat.
Peruzza was speeding through unincorporated St. Charles Township when the vehicle left the roadway, went airborne and crashed into a group of trees.
Peruzza fled, leaving Hansen trapped inside while the wreckage started to burn, authorities said. Hansen was found dead at the scene.
Hansen's relatives sued Peruzza and David Beaune, the owner of the Jeep Cherokee that Peruzza was driving. Insurance companies for each of the men settled in mid-July, paying $50,000 each, along with $3,000 for medical costs.
Peruzza, who is free on bond, faces a sentence of probation, if extraordinary circumstances are found, or three to 14 years in prison for aggravated DUI causing death, according to the news release. His next court appearance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 30.