Johnsburg alum hurt by drunk driver in 2014 looks to close ‘blind spot’ in DUI law: ‘I am here for something’

Nov. 2, 2014, began as a fun night out with friends for Johnsburg High School graduate Jarett Wolff and ended in a life-altering crash that he said is “always in the back of my mind.”

Then just 18 years old, Wolff said he was looking forward to becoming a U.S. Marine.

But that would not happen.

Wolff, 27, who now lives in Round Lake, was the front-seat passenger in a Dodge Neon that night. They were heading north on River Road when a drunken driver heading south crossed the center line and crashed into their vehicle.

Wolff recently recalled that night: Having fun with three longtime friends, leaving a bowling alley in Algonquin where they played laser tag, stopping at White Castle, then traveling the various roads heading back home to Johnsburg.

They had been listening to the radio. The song “Tuesday” by Drake, was playing loudly. Then, after turning left from Charles J. Miller Memorial Highway on to River Road, Wolff said he saw headlights headed their way.

Wolff recalled that he turned down the music and asked his friend Jose Martin, who was driving, “What’s that car doing in our lane?” Wolff said he giggled, shrugged it off and turned the radio back up.

“And, seconds later, it was pretty much lights out,” he said.

His next memory would come about three weeks later when he woke up in the hospital. He had been in a medically induced coma.

Martin, 27, of Johnsburg recalled that he tried to avoid the oncoming Ford Ranger, which then smashed into his car – right where Wolff was sitting.

Martin said he briefly went unconscious, woke up and he and his backseat passengers, Dan Tysland and Anthony Kowalski, got out of the vehicle. Wolff didn’t move.

“We saw Jarett and he wasn’t responding to any of us,” Martin recalled. “We got scared. We thought he was gone.”

In the moments after the crash, Martin remembers seeing Wolff bloodied and unconscious and Michael Smith stumbling out of the Ford Ranger yelling and swearing at him, blaming him for the crash.

We saw Jarett and he wasn’t responding to any of us. We got scared. We thought he was gone.

—  Jose Martin, friend of Jarett Wolff

While the teens had been hanging out in Algonquin that night, Smith, of Island Lake, was drinking at a bar near McHenry. Smith, who had three prior violations for driving under the influence of alcohol was driving on a revoked license, prosecutors said.

The crash sent Wolff to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. He woke up to an altered life with broken bones, a bruised lung and a traumatic brain injury that still affects him.

His hopes of becoming a Marine were dashed.

Kowalski, who was sitting behind Wolff, also was hospitalized.

Smith later entered a guilty plea to three counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol. The trial judge sentenced him to consecutive six-year sentences for injuries to Wolff and Kowalski.

To the victims’ and McHenry County prosecutors’ dismay, however, Smith was released last month after the Second District Appellate Court of Illinois ruled the trial judge erred in calculating his sentence. Smith had served a little more than five years in prison.

Assistant State’s Attorney Ashley Romito had argued unsuccessfully to keep Smith in prison for the full 12-year sentence – six years for each of the two most seriously injured teens. The appellate court, however, ruled the sentences had to be served concurrently, not consecutively.

“The defendant took advantage of a blind spot in the aggravated DUI law,” Romito said.

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The “one act, one crime” doctrine under which Smith, 54, was sentenced is “not an accurate reflection of our present day DUI statute or sentencing guidelines,” Romito said.

Smith’s sentence was reduced based on an old Illinois Supreme Court opinion that has been revised many times since 1999.

“Had the judge originally sentenced Smith to 12 years on the single count of aggravated DUI on Wolff alone and entered a no conviction or sentence into the record regarding the severe injuries and permanent scarring to Anthony, the preposterous application of ‘one act, one crime’ would not have been available for Smith’s windfall reduction in sentence,” Romito said.

“In Illinois it is well-settled that separate victims require separate convictions,” she said. “There would be no such application in reckless homicide, arson, vehicular carjacking, or even the single act of firing one gun shot, if more than one victim was hit.”

Jed Stone, Smith’s attorney, has said that his client is remorseful for his actions. Stone also has said he feels for the families affected by the crash.

Stone, however, also said “the law is written to protect all people, even people who do bad things so they are not over punished and the law can be administered fairly ... and that is exactly what the appellate court did.”

Romito said she hopes to see that law changed with newly proposed legislation in Springfield that would permit stricter prosecution and sentencing ranges that would account for each victim involved in an aggravated DUI.

Romito said she supports a measure introduced in the General Assembly by state Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, known as “Lindsey’s Law.”

Prior to the senator filing his law, Romito said, the McHenry County State’s Attorneys Office sought corrective action in the Illinois Supreme Court but was denied.

“Lindsey’s Law” is named after Lindsey Sharp, 26, a mom who was hit and killed by a drunken driver in 2015. The man who was driving drunk was convicted and sentenced to prison for her death. He was not punished for injuries to her boyfriend and child, McClure said.

“Lindsey’s Law” would include punishment enhancements on drunk drivers who kill someone and injure others.

Stone said Friday that the notion of one act, one crime is “a long-standing, well-established principal” created for “good and thoughtful reasons.”

He questioned if the proposed Lindsey’s Law would be a violation of the Illinois Constitution, though he has not done an analysis of it.

He said he understands the concerns held by McClure and the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office but added that “it ain’t law and unless it becomes the law it is not anything that is in effect.”

As it is now, sentencing cannot be imposed for more than two deaths. Additionally, if there is one death and additional people injured, a judge still can only impose sentencing for the death, McClure said.

After learning about the Smith case, McClure said he wants the law strengthened for DUIs in that scenario as well.

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McClure said that his career as a prosecutor and seeing the pain many families have experienced after being affected by drunken drivers has inspired him to fight for tougher laws that ensure all victims of DUIs receive justice.

He said he is frustrated, however, because his proposal has lingered in the Senate without a vote.

“This bill would be an important step toward providing justice for all of the victims of drunk drivers,” McClure said.

Kim Wolff, Jarett’s mom, said she still recalls being in the hospital praying her son would survive. One doctor told her there was a 1% chance of his survival, and if he survived, he could remain in a vegetative state.

“I didn’t recognize him,” she said of seeing her son injured and unconscious and hooked up to machines that kept him alive.

Her younger son, Joseph Wolff, 18, who was in 5th grade at the time, said he couldn’t breathe when he first saw his brother.

Noting Smith’s history of multiple DUIs, not having a driver’s license or insurance the night of the crash, Kim Wolff said: “He chose not to listen to the courts and chose to drive drunk. This all could have been prevented. It seems there is no justice for victims out there.”

It is McClure’s hope that his bill passes as a way to ensure justice for all victims of DUI drivers.

“Its passage would send a strong message across the state and, hopefully, cause more people to think twice before they get behind the wheel after using drugs and/or alcohol,” he said.

Since filing “Lindsey’s Law,” McClure said he has been contacted by “many victims and their families” asking him to expand it to make sure their loved ones “also receive justice.”

Jarett Wolff, who said he still lives with ringing in his ear, memory issues and aphasia, is now making deliveries for Amazon and preparing for his wedding in November.

Though still traumatized by the crash, he said he hopes to be a part of rewriting DUI laws. He shares his story to help prevent future DUI crashes.

Before pandemic restrictions, Wolff spoke to teenagers at Condell about the dangers of drinking and driving.

When he looks at the pictures of the Dodge after the crash, with the passenger side where he was sitting demolished, he said, he can’t believe he survived.

But because he did, he believes there is a reason, he said.

“I feel like a victor, a walking miracle,” Wolff said holding the framed photos. “I am here for something.”