Injured Earlville cop denounces probation in high-speed chase

An Indiana woman has reported to La Salle County Jail to begin a six-month sentence for a high-speed chase that critically injured an Earlville police officer.

But the injured police officer broke an extended silence to say Jaquaya M. Roy should have gone to prison, instead.

Jesus Alonzo, a 52-year-old married father of four, said he had always been “extremely proud” to have served 12 years with the Earlville Police Department, making Roy’s probation and jail sentence difficult to accept.

“Since the verdict of Jaquaya Roy, I am embarrassed of the justice system not just for me but for all my fellow police officers who risk their lives day in and day out,” Alonzo wrote in a statement emailed to Shaw Media after Roy’s sentencing. “180 days in the county jail is nothing in comparison to what my family and I are going through.”

Alonzo said he sustained three fractures to his neck and had surgeries to his right shoulder and right knee. Nearly a year after the April 10 crash, he still is recuperating, grappling with pain and emotional distress.

“I am still unable to return to my regular job as an automotive technician,” he wrote. “I am not able to provide for my family the way I was used to. I now have to rely on my friends and family for support. My life as I know it will never be the same. I will probably never be able to wear my duty belt again because of the lasting effects of my injuries.”

Roy, 24, of Bloomington, Indiana (also listed in Chicago), had entered a blind plea in January to one count of aggravated fleeing and eluding, a Class 4 felony carrying 1-3 years in prison or, alternatively, some combination of jail time and/or probation.

She had sped from a traffic stop and the resulting chase reached speeds of more than 100 mph, including in a residential area of Mendota where the posted limit is 45 mph. During the pursuit, Alonzo crashed his cruiser on U.S. 34 near the Meriden Township building.

She narrowly avoided prison at a March 17 hearing, during which she said she “acted out of impulse” when she fled the traffic stop at the behest of a passenger, an armed parolee who told her, “Go go go.”

“I’d like to apologize for my reckless behavior and driving (the night of the offense),” Roy told Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. “I realize (now) how much I’ve been through the past five or six years.”

Ryan said he struggled balancing Alonzo’s injuries with Roy’s “minimal” criminal history before deciding against a trip to the Department of Corrections. The judge instead settled on 30 months felony probation plus 180 days in La Salle County Jail.

“She’s going to jail, that goes without saying,” Ryan ruled, and then immediately denied Roy’s request for home confinement instead of lockup. Prosecutors said later the statute carried a presumption of probation, meaning Ryan had limited discretion with regards to prison.

Roy was taken into custody Thursday evening. She is eligible for day-for-day good time and could be released in early summer.